Murder on the Dancefloor
by MidoriPanda
Summary: New Year's Eve Sereitei party. The Female Shinigami Assosiation is up to something evil, as ever. Blame Yachiru and Rangiku. WARNINGS! LOTS of Yaoi and kind of AU.
1. Two and a Half Women

**_A/N: Hehe a teaser, now that I'm free from school, this is just like a little taste of what I'm gonna be doing during my loooooooong vacations. This and finish _Enjoy the Silence_ and all my goddamned Naruto fics. Ah, I'm so happy, I passed all my exams!! :D _**

**_A lot of Bleach silliness on this one, no pairings implied on the first chapter, but it will have LOTS of fluff. IchiRuki, IshiHime, UraYoru, Hitsuhina, UkiUno, ShunNan, GinRan, and yaoi. Lots of yaoi. It will be centric on Yaoi pairings (ShuuIzu, IkkaYumi and I don't know what else might come to my mind!), so if you don't like, skip, skip, skip. Oh, and I must warn you it might have some spoiling parts, and kind of AU for expeculation and things Kubo-sensei would never add to his glorious manga. Like Gin and Tousen as good guys again D:_**

**_Neh, the title is for the well-known song from Sophie Ellis Bextor, and every chapter might include another title song or simply be a silly one like this.. you know, inspiration comes fro the weirdest sources some time xD_**

(And just so you know, the fact it's a new year's eve fic, has nothing to do with anything. Actually it's because I was watching Friends and inspired myself on one episode, which, is also, a new year's eve party. Excuses, excuses, but knowing myself, I might finish this until december, so, who knows? XD)

**_

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_Murder on the Dance floor**

**A Bleach Fan Fiction by xox-Midori-Chan-xox

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**Chapter 1**

**Two and a Half Women

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**

"…so, that's mainly all the points the female Shinigami association has to say." Ise Nanao concluded, pointing at the blackboard and sliding her round glasses up.

"HOLD ON A SECOND!" Iba screamed, pointing accusingly at her. "What the hell is with a "party to celebrate"?! there's nothing to celebrate, Ise!!!"

"Of course there is, Iba-san. New Year's eve party, was what I meant, it's just two weeks from now. That's why we're taking the male Shinigami association's funds, if there's no complains about it." She said calmly, as Iba stood up and smashed his hands against the table where all the club presidents and the Commandant Yamamoto were sitting.

"I refuse, Ise!"

She glared at him, coldly enough to make him sit down and shut up.

"What do you think about it, Soutaichou?"

"Well… it's true we need a little spare after this winter war… thankfully we didn't have anyone dead on our side, which quite estranges me…" he said, placing his elbows on the table and linking his long, old fingers together. "You have my permission, Ise, as long as I have to plan nothing and I'm not obligated to go, everything's fine."

Nanao clasped her book and smiled widely, as she raised a thumb to the _actual_ president of the association and Matsumoto, who were standing at the door, listening the conversation.

She walked out of the room, before sending Iba some poisonous looks. The seventh division's vice captain lowered his head and grabbed the woman's shoulder before she left.

"Tell me. What is the freaking party for? You surely don't want to make a "party to celebrate" the war is over… and don't come up with this 'New Year's eve' crap, because I'm not taking any bull-"

To his surprise, Nanao smiled.

"To be frank with you, Iba-san, we're holding out a party, just like that. We have no actual reason, asides from the 'New Year's Eve crap' you're talking. We just want to have some fun for once. We had been in a quite strange mood since the captains deserted, and it has been months since that. We want to break the tension just a bit."

"Well, Ise, I _know_ you're stealing _our_ funds, and you're making the party for _yourselves_."

"No, actually we're not going to plan the party." Matsumoto interrupted, entering the room, carrying Yachiru on her shoulder like she used to hang form Kenpachi's .

"So?"

"We don't know. It seems you didn't listen when we required the presence of everybody tomorrow again, so we can decide who's organizing." She smiled warmly and shook her head. "And we're actually giving up some of our funds too, just leaving a little to make.. Uhmm… some sort of poll and survey around…"

"Survey?"

"Well, not like that, you'll see later, later…"

The two women and the little girl left the older man standing cold on his feet… _what the hell are those three crazy women are planning?!_

Iba went out of the conference room, where he found the whole male Shinigami association waiting outside.

"So… another point to Ise?"

"Well…"

"What?"

"I don't know… they're planning something, but I can't tell."

"We heard about the party. Do you think they might pick you to manipulate you or something, Iba-san?"

"I refuse in all ways to plan a party, I don't think they're doing it."

"So who are they picking?!"

"Who knows!!"

"Calm down, gentlemen… we're going to settle things tomorrow and stop their evil planning!"

"How're we gonna do that, Iba-san?!"

"…" everybody stared at him, who had, basically, no freaking idea. "…we'll see."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So… sorry for making you interrupt all of your activities, but as there have been some complains about us planning everything, we were forced to ask everyone to come, so we can discuss about who's gonna plan the party." Matsumoto said, who had been covering Nanao's place. Yachiru was still hanging from her shoulder, receiving weird glances of everybody around her.

"May I ask… why am I here if I'm.. well, not part of any club or something…?" The substitute Shinigami raised his hand, quite scared and doubtful about why the hell had Matsumoto had almost carried him out of classes all of sudden and dragged him to Soul Society.

"Well, because we think the whole 'substitute Shinigami' has his own gang, as Orihime, Ishida, and Sado, counting Urahara and Yoruichi with you, so… we think of you as a kind of association of Soul Society."

"And what is it exactly we do?"

"You break laws and infiltrate everywhere your head passes trough." Yachiru said happily, embracing Matsumoto's thin neck. She carried the little girl on her arms for a while, then he gave Yachiru her chair, so the little Shinigami could stand on it to face the grown up people around.

"Well… somehow she's right, Ichigo." Matsumoto said, smiling. "Then again… why don't you plan the party?"

"ME?! WHY?"

"Well… some sort because the real world is really, really funny, it'd be a lot of fun, and asides from that, we're getting quite sick of only drinking sake here. In the living world, you can drink everything that comes to mind! Beer! Whiskey! Vodka! Tequila! Whine! Martini! Whatever!"

"You're such a compulsive drinker, Rangiku-san…"

"Neh, shut up, Ichigo, it's decided then! You're planning and arranging everything!"

"NOBODY EVER SAID YES!"

"Well then!!!" Yachiru jumped onto the table, pointing at the orange headed teenager. "I vote for Ichi to be the party boy!"

"PARTY BOY?!"

"YAY!!! What about you, Byakuyi?!" the pink haired jumped onto the man, he just frowned. "You are also coming to the party, ne? ne, Byakuyi?! I wanna dance with you, Byakuyi!"

The Kuchiki leader rubbed his temple and shook his head, then he looked at Yachiru's enormous orbs.

"Fine. I agree, but I have one condition, my very only condition…"

"What's it, Byakuyi?!"

"Stop. Calling. Me. Byakuyi." He said deadly at her, grabbing her shoulders.

"Fine."

Everybody looked at them and certainly, nobody expected when Yachiru hugged him.

"It means now I can call you by your real name, Byakuya! We're more intimate now! I can't wait for having babies!!!"

"I'm sorry, Kuchiki Taichou…" Matsumoto muttered trying to remove Yachiru before the older one attempted to kill her, but he was way too shocked to even shove Yachiru away. "…but she did as you said… you're Byakuyi no more…" _Thank god Zaraki Taichou is not here… thank god Zaraki Taichou is not here!!!_

Ichigo laughed as Yachiru let go of his neck. Byakuya placed his elbows on the table, then his head over his hands. What did he was Yachiru's favorite bulls eye, anyway?!

"Then! Unohana Taichou, what do you say?!"

"There's no problem with me, I'm fine with everybody's decision."

"Of course she says that, she's an honorific member of the female association." Iba muttered, glaring at her.

"And what about you, Iba-san?"

"Whatever, as long as we don't do it, it's fine."

"And lastly, Sasakibe fukutaichou."

"I really disagree with all this party thing, we have lots of works to…"

"Have I mentioned humans have invented frozen tea of different flavors? Oh, my… there's almost as tea flavors and types as alcoholic drinks in there…"

"Kurosaki, you're arranging the party." Sasakibe said firmly. "And since we have Yamamoto soutaichou's approbation, you have no option but to do it!"

Matsumoto started to laugh, as Ichigo did the same Byakuya had been doing for the last minutes.

The woman took out her cell phone and dialed Nanao's number.

"Moshi Moshi?"

"Nanao-chan… just as planned."


	2. Seven Days to the Wolves

_A/N: Moar sillyness with Ichigo's group. LOL, I have this crap up till chapter 5, but chapter 4 and half of 5 quite don't make me want to post them. Why,yes, I blame Kira's girliness and ukeness, when we all know he's BADASS and can cho your head when you less expect it!!! I want to make them the most in character I can, but they just keep coming OoC. They like coming OoC TwT... that, and the fact I want to put Gin and Tousen in the story, cuz I luv them (and believeme, I'd put Aizen if I could, but that would be too much crack for one fic!), but they just... don't fit. But I need them so I can develope the plot, so, sorry if you dislike AU-ness... _

_I swear I'm gonna finish this before it's actually New Year's Eve, I swear it, I swear it, I swear it! Oh... have I ever mentioned how inferior I feel when I wirte fics in English or read other people's? My vocabulay is really limited... but my imagination is not, less when I read Ouran HS Host Club XDDD Well, but that's what happens when one doesn't like Beta Readers xD Nothing against them, I just like to do everything by myself._

_Ah, This has Ichiruki-ness, hints of IshiHime, and one sided of several others I don't really like xD so if you don't like, don't read :3_

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**Chapter 2**

**Seven Days to the Wolves

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**

"You mean… we all are going to have to plan it?" Ishida said, the typical molested tone filled his voice.

"Yeah… I'm sorry, I wasn't able to say no."

"Well, if there's no helping it…" Rukia muttered, and then she sighed.

"Anyway, Rukia, Renji, what are you two doing here? aren't you for other stuff in Soul Society?

"Yeah, but they threw us with you, 'cuz we always end up following you guys whenever you get in trouble."

"Uh, I see… Yachiru's idea, right?"

Both Renji and Rukia nodded.

"Why so sad, guys?! We're gonna have a great Saturday night!!!" Orihime squealed, tackling Rukia from the back, almost making her fall on her face.

"Inoue, how are we supposed, if we don't have enough age nor money to rent a place and buy that amount of Gigai?!"

"That wont' be a problem, Ishida-san…" Urahara said, fanning his face. His hidden in the shadows eyes looked quite red, like if he hadn't been sleeping for long, and his tone of voice was a bit rough. "Look, I'll provide the Gigai for everyone. Also, Yoruichi-san and I will search for a place for you, guys. With only one sole condition."

"R-really? Which one, Urahara-san?!"

"I'm only hosting two people here. No more. And you guys are doing the cleaning after it's done."

"D-do you have any idea if where we are gonna do…?"

"The training ground beneath the shop. I can adapt it to make a great, big, place for a large party, and well… I can open several portals so the Shinigami can go out and in every time they want into different parts of the city, and of course, one comes from Soul Society, but it's closed after everyone's in."

"How long will we be accepting people and since when?"

"I heard Rangiku-san talking about coming here two days before, so they could explore and buy stuff, then the party, one more morning with the 'new Year's hangover' and the trouble is over."

"That's what you say… take on count when the party is, Kurosaki." Ishida stated, looking at the notebook Ichigo had been writing.

"December 31st, so?"

"New Year's Eve, you idiot."

"So? Another reason to celebrate!"

"Think about it Kurosaki. Those women are using you so they can avoid to plan the annual party on Sereitei we all have been invited since Halloween, you idiot!"

"Oh, Really?"

"Yes, really." Rukia interrupted, glaring at both Ichigo and Ishida."I'm actually impressed you didn't notice, Ichigo. Well… the matter here is don't you mind having to celebrate new year with all of these people and not your family, Ichigo? This also goes to you, Ishida…"

"I have nothing against it, I wasn't really expecting to pass it with my father."

"Who were you going with?" Orihime asked, a little worried.

"Alone, I guess…" He said blushing a little.

"Of course not, you'd have come to my house, Ishida-kun! You're not to pass any holiday alone!" She squealed, smiling warmly.

"Ah, I guess… I might have to drop my sisters and my dad into the party if they refuse to let me go."

"What about Kon? We can't leave him alone…"

"I know, it'd be quite cruel, but… nah, let's leave him, he deserves it."

"I'm not leaving him."

"Why not?!"

"Here between us, Chappy seems to have a crush on Kon…"

"YOU AND YOUR CHAPPY ARE MAKING ME GO MAD!!!"

"So they're going to stay at your home and make some Mod-Souls babies…"

Ichigo preferred to remain silent, knowing how perverted Kon could be. He sighed and took the notebook again. "Then again, if they left it all to us there might be another reason behind this…" Ichigo muttered to himself.

"Just a theory but…" Orihime claimed, smiling and shaking her head at the idea. "Don't you think it might be because of the sales? I mean, candy is a lot cheaper on Halloween and Holidays and… well, stores cut their prices."

"Another dirty trick from the female Shinigami association…"

"Not only that…" Ishida added, fixing the glasses over the bridge of his nose. "But there is also some things the male association might find 'attractive' about this."

"You mean?"

"A chance to bring the female association down. You know how Iba-san is…" Renji answered at Ichigo's question, who just sighed and shook his head.

"All of you guys are way too complicated. Well, we're opening a Sekaimon door anyways, aren't we?" He mainly asked Urahara, who nodded. "And, then the problem, who's coming, how many Gigai we will need, and who's staying with who, since it seems they're going to stay at least 2 or 3 days after or before the party."

The orange haired boy took out a pen, that thanks to Rukia had a Chappy head on it. He started to write down the names of all the people present in the room, and looked at the list three times.

"Well… the list Rangiku-san gave me must be somewhere around…" Ishida handled the sheet to him, and he took it quickly form his hand. "Let's see… according to her, all of these people are coming… they're not as much as I actually expected, yet they're not just two or three, they're like twenty-something…" the substitute Shinigami was mostly talking to himself, but everybody in the room paid attention to him. "Here are just staying two, which would be… Renji and Soifon, I guess…" Urahara and Renji nodded, making the orange headed boy to scratch the two names from the list and write them down on the notebook.

"Now… Rangiku and Toushiro always stay at Inoue's house… yet I think you might also have to handle Hinamori, the Kotetsu sisters and Unohana-san, do you mind?" Ichigo asked, to which Inoue shook her head.

"It's my pleasure, don't worry…" Ichigo nodded and scratched all of those names.

"Then… Kenpachi and family…" Rukia and Renji laughed, squad 11 being called 'family' was quite accurate, yet, never in life you should say that in front of them, or they'd have already chopped your head from your shoulders… "I think Keigo always keeps Ikkaku and Yumichika on his house… he can take Kenpachi and Yachiru, as long as they promise not to kill the poor guy…"

"NO, I'M NOT TAKING THEM!!!" Keigo's voice scream from the continuous room. Ichigo turned around, to face said boy, among Mizuro, Chizuru and Tatsuki spying their conversation.

"Since when…?"

"They had always been there, Kurosaki." Ishida scolded him, but Ichigo didn't even mind, he scratched the names and wrote them down on the notebook.

"Didn't you hear I said no?!" Keigo said, but Ichigo ignored him again.

"Actually, if we think about it, Unohana-san might stay with Ukitake-taichou and Kyouraku Taichou. In her place, put Ise-san."

"Why does those three always stay together?"

"Well, they've known each other for ages, and one is always sick, the other's a medic, one is a pervert, the other is a woman… what did you expect, Ichigo?!"

Ichigo chuckled and wrote them down in front of Chad's name, who nodded silently, smiling at the orange haired boy.

"Ichi-goo!!!" Keigo screamed, poking him on the rib. "I don't want to…"

"Keigo, if you do as we say, and shut up already, we'll introduce you to any girl you like, and you know how Shinigami women are, don't you?!" Ichigo screamed, pointing at him with the pen.

Keigo's frown disappeared and a silly smile replaced it.

"Don't you want me to take more people, Ichigo?!" He said, glomping the orange headed.

"No, it'll be more than enough to have those four in there. If Ikkaku and Yumichika were trouble, you have no idea who Kenpachi and Yachiru are."

"Oh… Yachiru, you say? A fine, nice, Shinigami lady?!"

"More a girl than anything…"

"Ah, it doesn't matter, Keigo likes them all!!" He screamed, hugging an imaginary woman on the air.

"No, literally, a girl. Like 5-6 years old. Pink hair, tiny, bouncy crazy little girl."

Keigo's grin vanished, but they all ignored him again.

Ichigo continued making the list. In the end, He and Rukia would have to take care of Byakuya, who, for some strange fact, was convinced by Yachiru to come, thing nobody who was inside the room wanted to actually find out why.

Urahara and Yoruichi would host only two, Renji and Soifon.

Ishida agreed to take care of Nemu and some other people of squad 12, asides from Ganju, Kuukaku and Hanataro.

Orihime was fine with Hitsugaya, Hinamori, Matsumoto, Ise, and the two Kotetsu sisters, and Chad would host Ukitake, Kotsubaki, Kyouraku and Unohana. Still there were some people missing on the list, like Kira, Hisagi, Iba and, strangely, Komamura.

"How the hell is he gonna come over here?! Are there even Gigai for him?!"

"There is…" Urahara said, and Ichigo noticed a puppy had suddenly appeared on the room, as the blonde man carried it and scratched it's ear.

"Do you mean…?"

"Yes, this is his Gigai. I tried it with Kon and later with Nova (now here), to see what happened."

"Nova-kun, can you speak while inside that thing?" Ishida asked, scratching the dog's head.

The dog nodded, but as usual of Nova, he said nothing.

"Maybe if we place Cloud inside…"

"Cloud is allergic to fur…"

"And RinRin?"

"Nor RinRin or Kon are ever gonna enter that thing ever again."

"Why?"

"You see, when they get angry, they do not only scream at you and hit you, but they bite and bark. That's why I finished it with Nova."

Ichigo chuckled, scratching Nova as well.

"So, where are we leaving Hisagi, Kira, Iba and Komamura taichou?" Renji asked Urahara, who sighed.

"I really have no idea. Mizuro is going on a trip and comes back the day of the party. Chizuru is not an option…"

"I'm listening!!" The woman said, as Tatsuki hit her head to shut her up.

"Well… whatever, Chizuru is not taking them."

"But isn't she…?"

"Do you think two guys who had been nominated part of the top ten hottest male Shinigami around the Sereitei, one who's quite feminine, the other being his best friend, one that has a freaking Hiroshima accent and a dog/wolf man would be fine staying at a perverted bisexual girl's house?!" Rukia murmured into Renji's ear, who's smile vanished and frowned in fear.

"So…?

"They can stay with me. My parents are not at home, and I don't really care about guys… as long as they don't try to hit on me, I'm fine."

"Oh, then Hisagi might have to sleep on the street." Renji added, shaking his head. "That guy is a freaking pervert."

"He likes older woman, not girls, Renji. He's not like you and Kira-san." Rukia said, glaring at him.

"You sound like you're jealous, Rukia." Ichigo aid, molested.

"Of course not!!" She defended herself, to what Renji laughed.

"Admit it, you had a crush on Hisagi, because he looked a hell like Kaien-san." The red headed said, and received a slap form the girl.

"Don't ever bring that back again, Abarai…" She hissed dangerously, making Renji to shiver.

"It was that bad?!" Ichigo asked, leaving the pen and hugging Rukia from the back.

"It was the worst week of my entire life, thanks to Renji and Kira-san." Rukia said, caressing one wild spike of Ichigo's hair that had fallen over his face.

"Well, then…" Ishida said, taking the list as he noticed Ichigo was not going to pay attention to it since Rukia had snapped his attention away. "…we're still missing the drinks, music and lights for the party."

"He's right…" Renji muttered, trying not to look at the ginger haired boy and his female friend. Whether the Shinigami liked it or not, those two were together, they seemed to fit, like if they were made for each other. And it just seemed they were going to last. A lot. Quite much more time Renji could handle…

And so it seemed he wasn't the only one who was a bit shocked about the fact Rukia and Kurosaki being in a relationship, but also Orihime looked a bit less cheerful than usual. Not that Renji actually cared, but for some odd reason, he thought maybe the orange haired girl was the only way to split Ichigo and Rukia. Yet it'd be so cruel of her, thing which Orihime would never do in her life…

"So!! Let's see who gets to bring the lights! And the drinks! And the musiiiiiii-!!! SORRY ISHIDA-KUN!!!!" Orihime squealed, taking the notebook and spinning a little. Ichigo smiled when she almost fell, tripping with Ishida's leg, who caught her and sat her besides him. It was great to see her smile and laugh again, after all of that had vanished and seemed to be consumed in Hueco Mundo. Somewhere deep inside her being, she had loved a certain Arrancar, but she never told anybody. Still, there was no need for words to tell something so obvious. The matter of fact here was not Orihime, actually, but Ishida: another one who had said nothing about his feelings, yet they were at least clear like water to the orange headed boy. He smiled wider when Orihime kept blabbering about the whole organization, and then the Quincy took the notebook from her hand and started to organize with her. He wasn't even listening, but he must have said something that made Orihime exited, because she kissed him on the cheek, making the other blush deeply.

"Aren't those two great, eh, Ichigo?" Tatsuki's voice asked form behind him, so he turned around to see her.

"You think so too?"

"Of course… you know what?"

"What?"

"This party seems the perfect day to set them up together, don't you think?"

Ichigo smiled at Tatsuki… it was going to be an interesting night…


	3. How I Became Paranoid

**_I just finished a rather not so ugly chapter 4 today... but I upload when I have the next chapter finished, so I can change things that don't make sense. So, I give you chapter 3 in change of my lazyness... LOL, in this chapter there's just some IchiRuki, IshiHime and UkiUno sweetness XDD Next one will be a long, LONG chapter, so get ready!!!_**

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**Chapter 3 **

**How I Became Paranoid

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**

Seven days. Seven long ass days… and their horror hadn't even started. It had been a great pain to manage to bring all that was needed to make the party. Yet, the only thing missing was the most important and the most difficult to handle: the guests.

The gate opened, and the orange headed boy gulped. He saw several shadows coming behind the typical fog that was created within the tunnels that connected Soul Society and the living world.

At first he couldn't tell who was who, but then Yachiru jumped out of it, strangling Ichigo in a fierce hug.

"It's been a long time, Ichi!!!"

"H-hi, Yachiru…" He breathed out when the girl let go of him. The pink haired girl had grown a little, almost the size Hanataro had, and also her body strength had increased.

"Rukia-nee-san!!!!" She jumped and hugged Rukia, who returned the hug and smiled. "It's so good to spend some time with my sister-in-law!!!" She squealed, making Rukia to let go of her and star at her big, brown orbs in horror. _Sister in law, she just said?!_

"E-excuse me?!"

"Yay!! Byakuya and I are together!!!"

Said man entered some seconds after, with Kenpachi besides him, who was laughing hysterically, as he saw his little girl crawl on Byakuya's shoulder instead of his.

"Hahaha, we're going to add you to the family, Kuchiki!" Kenpachi said, patting the man on the back. "You can call me dad if you want!!"

"Zaraki, with all respect, I'm going to kill you and your whole division when we get back there."

"Noooo, Byakuya, you can't do that!" Yachiru said, hugging his neck. "You can't kill them! They're all like my family, you can't kill your fiancée's family!"

"Yachiru…" Byakuya hissed, making the small Shinigami to let go of him and jump onto Kenpachi. "…we're not getting married, get it?!"

"Why not?!"

"First of all, I am a widower, and I don't plan to marry again." He rubbed his nose bridge and shook his head. "Second, you're way too young." He sighed "And third and last, I never did and would never ask you to marry me."

"Why not?!"

"Ah, god, Zaraki, please do something, I can't take it anymore…"

Kenpachi laughed as he walked away with the girl, as more people entered the room. Renji was trying so hard not to laugh, as Ichigo and Rukia tried to calm Byakuya before he killed everyone around.

"Well… the Gigai are on the next room, please take them whenever you like." Urahara said, opening the door. Several of the Shinigami who entered went right there, Matsumoto heading cheerfully.

The only one who waited until everybody else went out and went with their respective hosts was Byakuya, who sighed and entered when everyone else had left.

He came back, his Shinigami clothes seemed to have vanished, but just because he was inside the faux body. He was wearing a white shirt and black jeans, a loose tie around his neck, and the hair ornaments he always used were nowhere to be seen. Instead, his long black hair was tied on a ponytail behind his head.

Rukia smiled, even if it didn't look like it, Urahara had good taste for fashion.

"Well… let's head home, we still have to deal with my family, so let's go…" Ichigo muttered, taking Rukia's hand. Byakuya followed from behind, watching them. Ichigo's house was not far from there, so they reached the place in less than 5 minutes.

"We're home!!" Ichigo screamed, and his dad came flying from the kitchen, wearing a pink apron, just to hug Rukia, but his face met Ichigo's feet, kicking him back.

"Damn it old man, leave her alone for a while!!"

"No, you little rat, you leave her alone! I'm not leaving my little new daughter on your evil claws and…" He stared from Ichigo to Rukia, then to Byakuya, who was glaring daggers at him. "…is this Rukia-Chan's brother?!"

"Yes, this is Kuchiki Byakuya, old man…"

"Oh, eh, Hi! Nice to meet you! Heh, well, since this little rat and your lovely sister are together I guess you'd be like another son on this house, so feel free to come whenever you want, Byakuya-kun…" He said nervously as the man's dark eyes penetrated his skull, like if he was trying to summon Senbonzakura and cut him into slices.

"Fine… thank you, Kurosaki-san… ehmm… Ichigo?" He said, quite estranged to be talking to the boy by his first name.

"Yes?"

"Can we talk for a second, privately?"

"Uhmm, yeah…"

Byakuya walked towards the dining room and closed the door after Ichigo entered.

"W-what did you want to talk…?"

"You're dating my sister, right?"

"Uhmm… yeah, I thought you knew, she told you…"

"I wanted to make sure."

"Well, yes, we're together."

Byakuya leaned closer to Ichigo, a deadly glare fixed on his dark grey eyes, and pinned Ichigo against the wall with one hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Kurosaki, I know you're not that kind of man, but, if you ever dare to hurt her and make her shed a single tear (thing I've never seen her done in all the years I've known her…), I'm not gonna even use my sword, I'll tear you apart member by member until I make sure you're not able to come back to life like you miraculously use to do…" He hissed, leaning even closer, making Ichigo shiver.

Ichigo placed a hand between his face and Byakuya's, just to stop his hot breath hitting his lips so closely.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt her, I promise. I'd rather kill myself before hurting Rukia. And you'd not be the only one to make sure I'm dead. Renji would help, so would do Ukitake-san, his both third seats, and probably Kenpachi would like to join just for the fun of it…" Ichigo muttered coldly, as Byakuya glared at him.

"If she gets pregnant for some sort of way or whatever, would you agree to marry her?" He asked abruptly, making Ichigo choke with his own saliva.

"WHAT THE HELL? Do you think I'm that kind of guy or something?!"

"Well, no, but there's a time _all_ men need to do _it_, even _you_, Kurosaki. And if it's with _my_ sister, I want to make sure…"

"Of course I would!!! But it's not going to happen! Don't even think about it!!"

In the precise moment Ichigo lowered is hand and Byakuya sighed, smiling, the corridor door flung open, just to reveal to the eyes of the three Kurosaki family members and Rukia a very submissive Ichigo under Byakuya's firm, suggestive grip.

"Well… Ichigo… I know you might have a thing for Kuchiki people, but… you are his sister's boyfriend, you shall really stick to one person…"

"Nii-sama, stop menacing him, please…"

"I wasn't menacing him…" Byakuya excused himself, letting go of Ichigo, who sighed. "We were just talking man to man."

"About?"

"YOU! YOUR BROTHER IS PARANOIC!"

"Ah… look, I can't say a thing to him, since he's my older brother, but neither I can say anything to you, 'cuz you're my boyfriend… yet that doesn't mean I can't put my finger on this… Nii-sama, stop it already, it's the third time since we started to hang out you threatened him, and Ichigo, treat him with more respect!!!"

Both men sighed, then Ichigo took Rukia's hand, and walked out of the room.

"Come, Byakuya, I'll show you your room…" Ichigo muttered, and Rukia hit his ribs with an elbow after that.

"What did I told you?! RESPECT!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Thanks for walking me… us… home, Ishida-kun!! You're so nice!" Orihime squealed, grabbing both of his hands and swinging them up and down. "Promise me you're going to dance with me at the party!!!"

"Well, I'm not good at dancing, Inoue-san…"

"Neither I am! So let's dance together aaaaaaall night!!!" She said, spinning on her toes and curling on his arms, since she still had her fingers twirled with his.

"Ah… , Inoue-san, stop…" He said, grabbing the girl's shoulders. "Listen, you've been through a lot on the past month, you don't have to fake to be all happiness, Inoue-san."

"I'm not faking!"

"You can't be this cheerful after not only Kurosaki broke your heart, but also that espada, Ulquiorra. I can't bear to see you hurt, Inoue-san… I know you're putting that façade over yourself, so you won't worry us, but… whatever you need or want, you know I'm here for you."

Orihime's smile had finally vanished, and she glanced down, looking at her feet.

"I guess you're right…" The girl hugged him out of the blue, leaving him confused. He surrounded her body with his arms, making her lean closer. "Thank you, Uryu…"

He blushed deeply, Orihime had never called him by his first name, and he surely wasn't expecting her to do it that night.

"Well… I have to go… see you tomorrow… Orihime-chan…" he kissed her forehead before letting go, catching up with the people he was going to take care about. Orihime waved, a little confused, and a great blush spread across her face. The people who were to be hosted by her, were already inside the building, excepting for Matsumoto, who have waited for her to come inside. Orihime turned her back, to find the golden haired woman waiting for her on the door. She had a mischievous smile on her face, thing which made Orihime blush deeper.

"Uhmm… Rangiku, shall we enter?"

"Wait a minute there, girl!"

"Wh-What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing!" She answered cheerfully. "It's just I need to talk to you without all the bunch of people that are at your apartment."

"About what?"

"Oh, well, about what are you gonna do with Ishida-kun!"

"Ehh?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Well… it's obvious he has an ENORMOUS crush on you, Orihime."

"Ishida-kun?! Come on! No!"

"Dear, who's the expert in men here? Answer me, how many boyfriends have you had up until now?"

"Uhmm… none." She said blushing deeply.

"So, I'm the experienced one here, so don't argue with me. He – is - in –love - with – you!"

"N-no! I'm sure he loves somebody else, like… Nemu-san, or Rukia-chan, but not me!!"

"He likes you. Period. Just do something, you like him too, don't you?"

"Well… he's cute but…"

"Oh, I get it… you need time after all you've been through. I know how you feel, I mean, it's been a long time since Gin betrayed soul society, still, I can't still date other guys and stuff like that… but anyways, as he said… he's there for you, Orihime. Think about it…"

Orihime glanced onto her feet, smiling widely. Somehow she was right… and after all… Ishida had promised her to dance, so it might be quite interesting to see.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"How're you feeling, Juushiro-san?" the woman asked, making him to lay down when they reached Chad's house.

"Fine, thanks, Retsu-san…" he answered, taking the cup of tea she was offering. "You should rest too, it's been a long day, and neither one of us has come to the human world since that war we had to do the massive soul burial before we were intoxicated with Hollows."

"Oi, those were hard times…" Kyouraku said, taking the cup Unohana was giving him. "… but after that we had a really great time, still…"

"Anyway…" the white haired man said, smiling kindly at both of his friends. "I'm quite worried." He muttered, looking at the depths of his beverage.

"Why?"

"Well… I don't know, it quite has me on my nerves there are all the higher ranked officers in the living world. If something happens in Soul Society, we might not make it there."

"Don't worry, Mayuri and Yama-jii are still there."

"You notice Kurotsuchi might not be capable of doing all by himself if… something actually happens?"

"What are you implying? Aizen coming back from the death?"

"Well, he had already done that once, or he did something alike to it." The woman interfered, sipping from her own tea. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"Oi, come on, Retsu…" The older man said, drinking again. "Don't' be so negative about it, nothing's gonna happen. After all, even bad guys celebrate New Year's eve, and Hollows seem to calm down on these seasons."

"Even bad guys? Well, I hope they don't join our celebration…"

"No, don't even think about it, Ukitake!" the bearded man said, shaking a hand. "If they did, there would be less sake to drink! Unless it's Aizen, he'd steal our tea and run!"

The other two laughed as well, though, it was nothing to make fun about… most likely, because it was completely possible to happen if Aizen did one of his marvelous returns out from nowhere.

"Shunsui-san…" Unohana said, coldly. "Don't even joke about it…"

"Hey, hey, Retsu, don't get mad. I know you wanted to take that kid by your own after you couldn't dispose f him when you found out his evil plotting back when the execution was still on, but calm down!"

"I'm not mad… but sure I need some rest. I'm going to sleep, if you don't mind. Good Night."

"Good Night" Both men said at the same time, the white haired waving to her. She smiled and went inside the room that Chad had set specially for her.

"Soooo…?"

"So what?"

"Don't 'So what?' me, Shiro!!! You know what I'm talking about!"

"No, I actually don't…"

"Are you finally gonna tell Retsu, after two millenniums of knowing each other, you think she's the most beautiful flower in the garden of your life?"

"Do you have to be so pompous about it?!"

"Well, yeah, women like it. Retsu likes it. And I bet she likes you."

"Come on. We're old enough to fantasize with childish crushes."

"You're calling the love of your after-life a 'childish crush', you know?"

"I like her. And I'm not the only one who think she's beautiful. You do too!"

"All women are beautiful, my friend."

"Still, she's not my…"

"Shiro, you've been under her treatments and caring for so long I had already lost count. Since you died from that sickness in your human life, Retsu has taken care of its sub effects whenever they strike you. And eventually, she'll keep doing it for the next three eternities!" Kyouraku had been whispering all the while, but he had increased the tone of his voice on that last one, and he seemingly was about to scream the next words, but Ukitake moved his hands a little to tell him not to scream, so the woman on the next room wouldn't listen to their conversation. "So ask her to marry you and make all that time worth of it!"

"It has been worth…"

"But you haven't done anything dirty in two millenniums, Shiro."

"…"

Kyouraku laughed at the embarrassed and blushed face of the other, finishing his drink and slamming the cup on the table.

"Just tell her. I swear it's gonna be fine. I'm actually gonna make a bet with you!"

"A bet?"

"Yes. If I get to kiss Nanao-chan before midnight, you have to kiss Retsu at said time. If I don't, you don't have to do anything. But if you do before, I swear I'm not drinking sake until your next Birthday."

"You have to be joking!"

"You know when I bet with Sake and Nanao-chan, I'm always serious."

"What if I kiss her before midnight and you do too?"

"You serious?!"

"Who knows?"

"Well then, you will have to get drunk with me!"

"You know I don't tolerate liquor."

"Just one cup and you'll be dancing on your underwear after you ask somebody to braid your hair, screaming 'I'm Unohana taichou!!!'"

"Doesn't that look like a punishment to me?"

"Oh, no, if I get to join you, we'll both be on our underwear dancing, after somebody made my hair and I've stolen a pair of sunglasses and I start to hit you with a book screaming 'I'm Nanao-chan!!!'"

Ukitake chuckled as he smiled, watching Shunsui doing several exaggerated movements.

"Fine, let's do it."

"We have a deal?"

"Deal…"

* * *

_Note: I soooooooooo want to see that bet XD_


	4. Let The Flames Begin

_**A/N:**_ _Hurr Hurr... inspiration has been flowing. I tried to make Ichimaru's and Tousen's entrance fitting, but it seems I failed. At this rate, we're gonna have Aizen dancing Tango with either Momo or Ulquiorra xD Because crack is that wonderful. Ah, well, I'm uploading 3 chapters today, just becuase there's a little bit too much of ShuuIzu hinting in this one and the next one has explicit shonen-ai. the third one is the longest, but it has just some fangirl squealing XD Ah, by the way,if you're confused by the time this is all happening, this is one night before the party, a day after they arrived, in the afternoon. The next one will be the same day, but at night. And the last one will be the next morning, and then party, which I still have to write :D_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Let the Flames Begin**

People were coming and going. The stores were full, so did the eternally crowded streets of Karakura city. They were not a numerous group, yet, they called a lot of attention. Maybe it was the kinky tattoo. Maybe it was the golden hair. Or the yakuza appearance. Or the tomboy style. Most likely, it was the two century old wolf-like captain trapped inside the body of a brownish orange puppy. Yes, surely that was it.

"I'm gonna dye my hair, it calls a lot of attention!"

"It's fine, if anyone asks, talk with English accent and it's fine."

"I can't do an English accent, Senpai!"

"Then speak in English, everybody will think you're half American, anyways."

"Why is it you don't mind? You're the one that calls the most attention! The last one was the third person to ask you what the '69' stood for!"

"I'm not removing the tattoo from my face, Iba-san." The dark haired man sighed then he smiled. "You should give Komamura to either Tatsuki-san or Kira. You drag too much attention with your badass looks carrying a nice, little puppy. With no offence, taichou." He added, patting the dog between the ears, as a signal of forgiveness. Komamura waved his tail and flapped his ears happily. Hisagi wondered if it was a side effect of the Gigai, or if the seventh squad captain was a really, really good actor.

Iba sighed as he saw another three year old girl coming towards him, just to pet little 'Koma-Koma' and run off to her parent's arms when Iba roared in fury to keep her away.

"You don't have to be so rough."

"If I weren't, we'd be followed by a parade of kids behind us claiming how pretty he is. We don't want to drag a lot of attention, they will notice we're not from here!"

"Well, I look like I'm not from here. There are no blondes in Japan."

"There are LOTS of blondes in Japan, Kira. Now shut up."

"You really want to get rid of me, don't you?!"

"Again with that?! What have we talked about?!"

"Ah, you're always shoving me away, you leave me thinking you don't really like me at all."

"Kira, if I hated you, your publications in MY magazine would have been discontinued 50 years ago!"

Kira smiled and rolled his eyes, nodding a bit molested.

"Still, I think you're…"

"Would you shut it?!" Tatsuki said, frowning at them. Kira gulped and Hisagi did too, but Iba just breathed deeply. "Seriously, guys, I thought you'd be less troublesome, but what the hell, I was completely wrong!!"

"H-hey, don't get mad, T-Tatsuki-chan…sorry, it's just we've been through a lot lately and it's been quite a long time since we hanged out…"

"Yes, I know…" She said, a bit more calmed down."But why the hell do you keep telling that to Hisagi? Did you two fight recently or something?!"

"No.. but he always does that! Like I can break if I move a finger, I'm not _that_ useless!"

"You're not useless at all, idiot, thanks to you, me and this guy here are alive. But you're annoying!"

"And you're stupid!"

"And you're a bimbo!"

Kira opened his eyes wide and the other four, somehow including the dog, laughed at his expense.

"That's it, you faux punk-faggot, I'm moving with Yumichika and Ikkaku."

Hisagi's smile vanished, as he grabbed Kira's wrist and turned him around.

"Hey, I was joking, you know you're not a bimbo, and you know I don't really think you are! But you, to call me 'Faux punk-faggot', it's crossing the line, Kira!"

"You started it!"

"But I didn't mean it!"

"This is getting good." Iba said to the girl, who smiled and nodded.

"Want to go back? Let's leave these two here to solve their differences and let's come for them when they're done crying."

Iba smiled and chuckled a little.

"Sounds like fun…" they silently walked away from Hisagi and Kira, who were apparently about to start a street fight and make the biggest ridicule of their after-lives. "Damn it, those two seem like a married couple sometimes…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Listen, I'm sorry. I really am."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care, I AM sorry. It's my fault, it's always my fault. But could you please stop it?! You're making me look like some kind of creep, punkish bastard stalker of yours, and I'm none of it!"

"You're a little creepy. And you are bastard."

"Who are you calling creepy? And the bastard thing is a little offensive, I wasn't talking serious…"

"You are creepy. I am creepy but nobody defeats Iba-san in creepiness… hold on a second, where are they?!"

The two men turned around and found the other three nowhere around. Kira smiled nervously as Hisagi sighed, shaking his head.

"Listen, I'm sorry. This time I mean it."

"Yeah, me too… seems we were left behind."

"Yeah, so it seems… come, let me treat you to something!"

"Oi, no, don't worry… and we're supposed to return sober to Tatsuki-san's house."

"No, I wasn't offering Sake, silly. I was thinking, don't you want some ice-cream? It's been like ten years since I had one."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…my captain didn't like sweets much, so every time they sent me here I used to bring some rare stuff for cooking at home."

"Hah, yeah, that you two were great cooks."

"Were? I am a great cook. After all, Tousen taught me all I know."

Izuru smiled warmly, and shook his head.

"It's so awesome you two shared such a healthy and nice relationship. Not like mine at all… anyway, that's not the point, you don't have to treat me to anything, but if you want, I'll go with you."

"You do like sweets, don't you?"

"As long as it's not dried persimmon, I'll eat everything that's edible."

Hisagi laughed, patting Izuru's back.

"You and your trauma with dried persimmons. Come on, I'll give you food for free, how often do I do that?!"

Kira stopped frowning, but his eyes showed a bit of concern this time.

"You sure? You never have much money, so…"

"Don't worry, I have enough for these holidays, I've been saving a little."

The blonde smiled softly. Finally the other had made an argument he cannot object. When it came to money and sharing it, Shuuhei was completely serious.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Of all people! Why 'em!?"

"Could you shut up already?"

"Maybe even Rangiku would be a lil' more comprehensive, but Izuru and Shuuhei-kun?! What's wrong with Yama-san sendin' 'em here?!"

"You sure Matsumoto-san wouldn't have got angry to see you here?!"

"Hello?! Metaphor!!! She'd have chopp'd my head with 'er bare hands…"

"So why do you worry?"

"I don't know if ya know, Izuru kill'd Redder just 'cuz he recall'd my name. If he sees my face again, I'll no longer be recognizable!!! N' as far as I know, Shuuhei-kun holds no real grudge 'gainst ya, he's just hurt, so yer ass is safe, but mine is toast'd!!!"

"You have to be so disrespectful? Just leave them alone, they're just hanging around, probably on vacations."

"Vacations, ya say? After all the mess Aizen did, n' made us t' do?!"

"We're, technically, innocent, Gin, so shut up."

"Explain that to 'em!"

"…"

"Technically innocent my ass, we went there. Period."

"We were sent by Yamamoto and the central 46 since the beginning. The direct order was doing whatever he wanted, no matter what he asked! Aizen just made us look like the bad ones, but do you really think you are…?"

"Of course not! I might be seen as double faced or somethin', but I'd never do all he did on my own…"

"Then why did you killed the third seat of the 5th squad a century ago? That was before Aizen."

"I know, I know, but I was sent to kill him, also, to prove the bastard I was loyal to 'im."

"Ah, such things…" the man sipped from his cup of tea and sighed. "To think I'd miss Soul Society that much."

"Yeah, me too."

"You don't seem as regretful as I thought you were going to be, Gin."

"Well, no. I only regret one thing, for sure ya know by far what I'm talkin' about."

The dark skinned man smiled, sipping again.

"You don't cease to surprise me, Gin." Gin turned around, the eternal smile on his face vanished for a minute. "Who'd have ever guessed you have a heart?"

"Nah, I don't. Even if she wants it or not... it's already hers."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ah, My hair is too long."

"That's not true, it's fine."

"I want to trim it. Or at least change looks. I've been with this one for a long while."

"Well, yeah, but it's fine, you look good on it. Or maybe it's just I've already grown used to see you like that."

"Talking about hair, you're letting yours grow, aren't you, Hisagi-san?"

"Oh, you noticed…"

"Yeah, it's quite longer… like when we were back in the academy."

"Oh, those were such good, old times…" Shuuhei passed, unconsciously, one of his long fingers across his cheek, where the three parallel scars were, just like if he was remembering some not so sweet memories, Kira knew perfectly which ones.

"Hey… don't be sad about it, Senpai…"

"I'm not sad… I just remembered how depressed I felt when Aoga and Kanisawa were killed. I mean, Aoga was not really close to me, but she was different. She was… her death was just s striking as our captains' betrayal. It was the second time I lost somebody really important to me."

"You loved her?"

"Not really. She was more like a sister. I grew with her on the Rukongai, and we decided to become Shinigami. Yet she didn't. It was hard, but now I know… she's probably somewhere better."

"Somewhere-?"

"When a Shinigami dies, it's spirit goes back to the human world. As her soul was not eaten by the hollows, I'm sure both her and Aoga made it back here. I still have my hopes to find her. I mean, Kuchiki did found Kaien's reincarnation, why not?"

"You.. have been looking for her?"

"At first I did. But that was so long ago, it doesn't really matter anymore. If I do get to find her, I'd be the happiest man in the world. But that's practically impossible, so I guess I have to keep on moving."

"Hisagi-san…"

"Maybe that was one reason why I had such a good relationship with Tousen, if you're wondering."

"Uh…oh… why?"

"A woman." Shuuhei smiled, eating the cherry on top of his ice cream. "He also had one friend, who was murdered. These woman gave him his ideals, his dreams, his sense of justice, she gave him everything… yet, she was taken away. He took her Zanpakuto from her grave, and promised to follow her steps. The only thing I can say, it's that thanks to this woman I never had the chance to meet, I am who I am today. He had the same hopes I did, to find her one of this days… but it's practically impossible. 'If for some sort of reason we're meant to cross paths once more, I'd be happy to know she's doing fine, but I'll never step on said path again, since I've taken mine already, parting from the one she left once'…" Hisagi sighed, taking the looped branch of the cherry on his tongue. "… that's what he told to me. And I still follow his beliefs, no matter how much it hurts."

He left the small loop on the table between the two of them, and Izuru took it to inspect it closer.

"Don't matter, Hisagi-san, I'm sure she's doing fine…. How the hell do you do this things?" Kira had muttered that last phrase mostly to himself, but Hisagi managed to listen.

"Oh, that? It's silly, I just… know how to tie them. It's said here in the human world that if you know how to do it it's because you're a great kisser."

"Heh, no joke, it proves why I cannot even make it bend."

"Oi, how do you even know you're not a great kisser? How much experience do you have?"

"Well, compared to you, Senpai, none. But I've kissed girls before, and believe me, I'm not good at it."

"Have they told you so?"

"No, I just don't feel it works."

"Kira, there are two kinds of kisses, just so you know."

"Two-?"

"Yup. One, basically is a simple, casual kiss; you give or receive it with no further intention, no matter if you like the girl or if she is attracted to you. It's just a simple clash of lips and probably tongues. Then again, there is another class, which is really, really enjoyable. Those are the ones that, when you're done, you feel like part of you has just left your body. Those are, my friend, real kisses. The ones that matter." Hisagi continued after eating more ice cream and smiling. "For what you've told me, you've never had a real kiss. So don't tell me you are not a great kisser if you haven't even given your first kiss."

"But…"

"There are no buts, Kira. Simply as it is, if you haven't had that 'feeling', that believe me, it's impossible to describe with simple worlds, you've never kissed in reality. Neither you've fallen in love."

"My, my, Hisagi-san.. if you write that kind of stuff in your 'Teach me, Shuuhei Sensei!!' Column, I assure you your popularity would go up like crazy…"

"I don't mind about popularity, Kira. In fact, this is one of the few things I don't like to share with anybody. Just because you're somewhat like a brother to me."

"Really?"

"Yeah… but promise me you're not telling my probably only original knowledge to nobody, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"It's somebody you care a lot for… and Hinamori doesn't counts, as far as I know, you had your first kiss with her, and nothing happened, then, Momo is not an option."

Kira laughed, eating from his own ice cream.

"I wasn't thinking of her."

"Who were you thinking of?"

"Nobody, actually."

"You liar, you were thinking of someone."

"No, I was thinking if I'd ever find somebody."

"Of course you will." Shuuhei answered, convinced after all. It was completely of Kira's style to be that innocent, so he believed in him. "And well, if not, we'll have sake. Lots, and lots of sake, since I'm starting to believe I'll never find a girl. Not that I really want."

"Heh, but we all know about your enormous perverted crush on Rangiku-san."

"Well, that's a lot different. I have already told you, Kira, one thing is to like somebody, the other is to love said person."

"But you were talking about kisses back then…"

"It doesn't matter, it applies to the situation, doesn't it?"

Kira chuckled, nodding in defeat.

"Still, you like her, and a lot. Why don't you just… try to go further?"

"It doesn't work, Kira. For who she is, and who I am, there's no chemistry. Asides from that, Rangiku-san has been through a lot. I bet she's somewhat in the same position I am now, doesn't want to know about love anymore."

"Come on, in her situation it's believable, but you?!"

"Look, I've been thinking a lot lately… I've only seen myself on a stable relationship with her, but with everything that happened and how it changed her… it doesn't amaze me either, but if it's not with Rangiku-san, it seems any effort to like somebody again is useless."

"Just because of that you're giving up on her?"

"She lost a baby, Izuru. We might not take it that serious, since we would never be able to bear a child, but she's a woman. It's way too different."

"I know… but you shall work as her crying shoulder, or something…"

"I'd rather just work as that, and nothing more, Izuru. She's hurt, and it'd be really hard for her to trust a man again, and it might take a lot of time. We all know I have no patience."

"Yeah, but giving up that way… it's not like you."

"Ah, that's why I blame that stupid fox-face asshole. My life would be much more better without him, yet… thanks to him it's Rangiku-san is alive."

Kira frowned at the idea of his former captain, and shook his head. He hated him. He hated him so much it was almost unhealthy. Night after night since the day he left, Kira had been poisoned with the thoughts of revenge. One million times he planned his death, he planned a tortuous, slow and painful death. Not only he used him, but Ichimaru made him rise his sword against two people he treasured the most.

"Don't get angry, Izuru. It wasn't my intention to bring him back, sorry.."

"It doesn't matter. Thank god he's dead already." _Or so they thought…_ "By the way… I had forgotten to ask you before, how are your guitar practices going? You restarted your practice, I've heard."

"Yeah… I'm getting pretty good at it."

"I'm not believing you until I hear it. Just to make sure."

"Hah… then maybe later I can play something for you. Just so you stop bothering me about it."

"Ok… don't worry, if you play as a retarded monkey with an Ukulele, I won't tell anybody!"

"You're winning it, Izuru."

"Haha, I'm joking. I'm sure you're great, and what I meant to say is I would not tell you anything wrong if you didn't know how to play. That's what friends are for, isn't it?"

"You're right…" Hisagi smiled, and then he remembered something… "Now, going back to the hair thing… sorry, I got carried away a little."

"Oh, yeah, me too! I've almost forgotten. Do you know somewhere I can go? You come here more often than I do."

"Not actually. Maybe Yumichika can do something, he's great at it!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I asked him to do something to mine when Renji came back from the human world and stuck his stupid bubblegum on my hair, and he left my hair in good state. And as far as I know, he once helped Tousen to do his hair and it came out really nice. Naturally it was me who did it, but when Yumi helped me, it was way easier."

"Oh, fine. So, we're going to their place from here?"

"Sure…as long as you promise you're not moving with them, like you threatened me before."

"Are you crazy? I might not look like the brightest crayon on the box, but I'm not that stupid!"

Izuru took the cherry on his ice cream, and ate it. He never liked them very much, but he wanted to give it a try, still, as he had said before, he wasn't even able to bend the branch. Shuuhei laughed as he saw Kira twitching his tongue inside his mouth like crazy, to what Izuru frowned and took the tip of it from his mouth, showing his tongue to Shuuhei. Then he kept trying, with no results at all.

"Izuru, don't try too hard. If you don't know how, just leave it like that…"

"I'm gonna do it, no matter if I cut my own tongue in the progress."

"If you stop saying such stupid stuff, I might teach you how to-"

Shuuhei's words surprised him, making Izuru to choke with the branch.

"Senpai!!" he screamed with his face completely blushed.

Hisagi laughed out loud as he shook his head.

"No, idiot, I didn't mean it like that, I was saying I might teach you how to do it, but not graphically!!"

"You're such an ass, Senpai…"

"So you don't want to learn, little 'Zuru?" He added in a seductive tone to tease him.

"Shut it." Izuru answered, shoving his Senpai when he got too close with the branch he had just spitted on his mouth, and his face was completely flushed.

"Heh, no, seriously, I might TELL you how to do it, just if you want." Hisagi said, backing down and smiling.

"…fine."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The two younger Shinigami left the fast food section, heading towards the Asano house. The two men who were listening closely to them watched how they walked away.

"Rangiku was…"

"You didn't know?"

"I had no idea…" Gin's smile was nowhere, and he was a little bit paler than usual. Also, Tousen noticed his left hand that held the cup of coffee was shaking a little. "… but how did it happen?"

"Well, I think you should know by far how babies are made…"

"No, I mean, I know what I did and I'm conscious it might have been a bit of miscalculation… but… how did she lost it?!"

"Allon, anybody?"

"Mila-Rosa, Apache and Sun-Sun's Quimera Parca?"

"Yeah, that one…"

"What's with it?"

"How much of an idiot you are…? and what's with your random doodles on the napkins, anyway?" He said, taking the napkin Gin had on his hand, which had a random, but certainly cute drawing of Izuru and Shuuhei in chibi version which had the label "BFF" beneath it.

"…leave my doodles alone, they've done nothin' t' ya!" He said, taking the napkin back. "I know they summoned that disgusting thing and that it beat Rangiku and Hinamori-chan, that Shuuhei-kun couldn't handle, that Izuru had to take care of them all, and that Yama-san killed it with one swing of his cane, but… what does that monster had to do?"

"Did you even watch the fight?"

"Not until Izuru joined, I was a bit interested in Stark…"

"You never noticed what Allon did to her?!"

"It knocked her down?"

"It destroyed half of her stomach, Gin… literally, it ripped half of it. And without Orihime's powers around on that time, Izuru was the only one to take care of her wound, so eventually she lost the baby. I think, for what I've heard from their conversation, Orihime reconstructed her system when the fight was over, but it was impossible to recover the baby."

"I did feel 'er Reiatsu fall, and I was certainly worried 'bout 'er, but I never noticed what it did… less I knew she was pregnant!!"

"And you said it would have been much more better to meet her here instead of those two… she'd have not only killed you, but she'd have revived you so she'd be able to kill you again."

"Yer no fun… but somehow yer right…" Gin placed his head on one of his thin and large hands, trying to think. "Tousen-san, I need yer help…"

"What now?"

"Their party. I need t' talk t' 'er, help me t' get inside there without gettin' kill'd."

"You don't want to get killed and you've just stated your death wish, Gin. If somehow all the bunch of Shinigami inside that place understand what we did and actually accept it, thing I don't see happening, she's going to go homicidal on you."

"I know, I know! But I need t' talk t' 'er! Seriously, I know all of 'em think I did no good, I know it's probable Izuru kills me before I even find 'er, but…"

"Ah, you sound so hopeless. I'm not helping you. Whatever we do, it'll just result as both of us dead."

"Ya might get the chance t' talk t' Koma-san, ya know?"

"Like if there's any chance Sajin would be here, there are no Gigai for him."

"Oh… really? 'Cuz I heard Shuuhei-kun talking about him."

"Probably back in Soul Society."

"Quotin': 'It's good Komamura taichou agreed to come… after all, it's not common that he's able to come to the living world.', gives ya any idea, Tousen-san?"

"When did he said that?"

"Just in the precise moment ya were lecturin' me 'bout being Izuru's stalker."

"You're his stalker, that's a fact…"

"So what? Yer commin' with me or not?"

Tousen sighed rubbing his temple with one hand and sipping from the tea again.

"Fine. I'll go. But if for some sort of reason we get caught, all the blame goes on you, and I might just run and leave you. Also, if Sajin is not there, I might as well be the one who kills you."

"Oh… yet ya may want t' talk t' Shuuhei-kun, don't cha?"

The other frowned, thinking of how much of a lucky bastard Ichimaru was.

"You better thank Shuuhei he saved your ass, if Sajin is not there."

"Ooh… so yer comin'?

"Yeah… we might have to ask Urahara-san for help. After all… he's the only one who knows everything, and actually believes it."

"Yeah… have ya thought maybe Kensei-san and the other Vizard might be there? What's him and Shinji-san might try to kill ya… once again?"

"You want me to come to save you or not?!"

"Fine! Fine! I was jokin'! Sheez, yer in a bad mood today, what's wrong with ya?!"

"Sorry, it's not you, it's just I've not slept in days."

"It's yer fault anyway!!! Why did ya bring that thing with ya?!"

"You seriously think I'd have left Wonderwise on his own in that creepy, gloomy place?"

"Oi, he might seem a bit stupid but your lil' boy is actually one of the strongest Arrancar left, so why don't cha go and leave him there, so we can actually live in peace?!" Gin sighed molested, but then the smile grew back to his face "Anyway, why don't we purify his soul n' send 'im to soul society? It's less creepy there, and he might become a Shinigami!"

"Don't even joke about it…I'm not sending him there either."

"Oi, ya talk like yer his father, seriously, stop bein' so overprotective. Ya know he might get hungry and eat us both while we're asleep, don't cha think?"

Tousen frowned and shivered… after all, Ichimaru might be right…


	5. Lips Like Morphine

**WARNING: Soft Shonen-Ai in this chapter (IkkaYumi and very, very slight ShuuIzu)**

_**A/N:** Second chapter I upload today out of three. Enjoy Yumichika's suffering and emotional breakdown!!_

**

* * *

Chapter 5**

**Lips Like Morphine

* * *

**

Asano Keigo was not a coward. Yet he was not the bravest man in the world. He'd actually reserve that title to the man who was sitting on his couch, along with a pink haired girl watching baby programs and screaming insults at the stupidity it broadcasted. Zaraki Kenpachi was his name, the fierce captain of the 11th squad of the Gotei 13. Somehow, Keigo wasn't impressed when Ichigo introduced him to his two new guests, as well as the other two who had already been in his house several times. He was certainly a bit scary, but having an "adorable object" hanging from his shoulder quite made him look a little bit softer than he really was. Not that Yachiru was actually that sweet and adorable as she seemed. Ikkaku was on the kitchen drinking a cold beer he had found abandoned on the fridge, with a large frown on his face, and Yumichika had been locked on his room since the afternoon, after some pressing events that had happened earlier. Yet neither one of the members of the awkward and savage squad was the reason of why Keigo was hiding behind the couch, but his very own sister.

There was a knock at the door. The younger man shivered and cried a little, when he heard the angry roaring of his sister on the upper floor. There was another knock.

"KEIGO, OPEN THE GODDAMNED DOOR!!" She screamed, making the boy to whimper like a kicked puppy.

He walked towards the door and found himself face to face with two men. One was blonde and the other had raven black hair, and a large 69 tattooed on his face, along with a blue strip along his nose bridge and three scars on the other side. For their looks, they had to be Shinigami… or at least, Keigo pledged they were Death gods, and not some kind of punks about to punch or kill him.

"Uhmm… this is the Asano residence, right?" The blonde asked with a soft and gentle tone that almost surprised Keigo, who nodded nervously.

"Sorry to bother you this late." The other said, as calmed and gentle as the other… they were Shinigami, Keigo was sure, but they must have been for some sort of other species of Shinigami, in contrast of his own guests. "Is Yumichika here?"

Keigo nodded again, letting them inside. In the right moment the door closed, Yumichika came out from his room.

"Oi, hi, Yumi!" Shuuhei saluted, but the narcissist frowned and shook his head.

"We talk later! Lend me Kira for a while!"

"Uhmm… yeah, I wanted to ask you if you could do something to his hair and…"

"Yeah, whatever! Just lend him to me for a little!!"

"Uhmm… sure…" Hisagi let go of Izuru's shoulder, who was dragged inside the room. "Ehh… Ikkaku-san? Shall I be worrying about Kira's safety and probably virginity?"

He heard Kenpachi laughing, but Ikkaku shook his head.

"Don't worry, they're just gonna talk, and probably he's gonna do his hair and nails."

"Did I missed something?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know…" He said, tossing him a beer, which Hisagi gladly took.

"Heh, he's right, Hisagi, there are things which are better to be left unknown." Kenpachi said, Yachiru still hanging from his shoulder and reaching the table where the other two were drinking. He took Ikkaku's beer and drank from it.

"So, something did happen!"

"I told you, you don't want to know!!!!"

"It's it that bad?!" Hisagi smiled, talking to Kenpachi.

"Haha, it's worse than it seems, doesn't it, Ikkaku?!"

"Ughh…"

"Just what happened?! Come on, Ikkaku, we're buddies, you can tell me, I'm not gonna laugh!"

"No, it's not it…"

"BALDIE KISSED YUMI!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"He… kissed you?!"

"Yeah!I don't know what to do, Kira!!!! What would you do in my place?!"

"Well, I don't know, truly… but why are you telling me?!"

"Because there's no way I'm telling Hisagi, Iba came earlier and he'd laugh at me, and Rangiku is not coming until tomorrow, she's still shopping!"

"Still… of all people you could have called, you had to tell it to me… now I have another trauma."

"Don't be like that, and help me!!!"

"What do you want me to tell you?! There's no way I can place myself on your shoes!"

"Uhmm… don't you like Hisagi?" Yumichika asked like f it was the most common question you can ask. Izuru frost on his place and grimaced at Yumichika, who laughed. "Sorry, it's just you always gave me that impression. We all thought you had some sort of crush or even an affair with him…"

"SERIOUSLY?!" Kira shouted, opening his eyes wide and shivering a little, then he relaxed and shook his head. "No, sorry, I got carried away… trying to put myself in your position, thing which would be really weird… all I can tell you is to talk to Ikkaku."

"Oh, why did I ask you?! I knew you were going to give an actual good advice, not something silly like Matsumoto would, that is way much more easy to do, like.. I don't know, erasing Ikkaku's memories by hitting him with a frying pan until he faints… that's actually a good idea…"

Yumichika stood up with a silly smile on his face, opening the door to head towards the kitchen to beat Ikkaku to death, but Kira closed the door with a hand and dragged Yumichika inside by the scarf the man was wearing.

"You're not hitting him, Yumichika, sit down, and calm…"

Yumichika sighed as Izuru made him sit down, and the blond sat in front of him, sighing as well. The fifth seat was a complete mess. His hair was ruffled and messy, thing which was strange. His feather decorations were torn off, like if he had pulled from them, and his eyes were a little bit red. Kira wondered if it was because he was crying or if he had been so in shock he hadn't winked for hours until they arrived or something. Yumichika started to twirl the orange scarf between his hands as he kept a creepy mile on his face, not blinking and a slight twitch on one eye.

"Just look at you, you look terrible…"

"How dare you say that?!"

Kira sighed again taking a mirror that was abandoned on the table, and placed it in front of him.

"Oh, my God, you're right!" Yumichika said after a moment of silent disbelief. "I look horrible!" he whined and hid behind his hands, sobbing a little. "I don't know what to do… I look like a goddamned 13 year old girl who had just received her first kiss! And none of those facts it's true!!"

Kira laughed a little, his analogy was quite good.

"I told you, just talk to him… you like him, anyway… may I ask why was it he kissed you?"

"Mizuho, that thing!!!!" He said, pointing at the wall the girl's room was behind. "When we arrived she started ranting about how she was gonna marry Ikkaku, and how her dress was gonna be, and how many kids were they gonna have, and where would their honeymoon would be, and where were they were gonna live, and all that crap girls fantasize about!!!" Kira raised an eyebrow, making Yumichika to sigh and roll his eyes, making a quite effeminate movement with one of his hands. "Therefore Ikkaku got desperate."

"Just for that?"

"She ranted for four hours nonstop, Kira."

"Oh, crap…" Izuru said, understanding a little bit more Ikkaku's pain and Yumichika's frustration.

"And, well, yeah, I do like him, but he's my friend… just, I know you're not, but picture yourself as gay just for now. What would you do if you've had a crush on Shuuhei for centuries, and then one of his multiple fan girls comes and starts to blabber about her infinite love for him, and he, out of the blue, kisses you to shut her up, so she, and probably any other woman around would not ever get around him? What would you do?"

"Now that you put it like that…" Izuru blushed deeply, he was actually thinking of it. "… and that doesn't mean I feel anything for Shuuhei, hitting him with a frying pan is way much more easier than talking. Still, it's not right. Much more likely, Ikkaku is your best friend. If for some sort of reason you tell him your feelings and he doesn't returns them, he'll still be your friend."

"I guess you're right. What I'm afraid is he'd be toying me…"

"He's your friend, he'd not do that."

"Ah, my, my, Izuru… you never know. It's quite weird but being in our squad, friendship, love… relationships are basically relative. It doesn't matter as long as you keep up fighting. If one dies, the others continue fighting. Tears are prohibited. If Ikkaku dies, I'd keep fighting. If I die, he'd keep fighting. Our friendship is as relative as time…"

"Hey, don't get poetic. And you couldn't be more wrong. If I remember well, you were the one who ran screaming at the top of your lungs towards him when he was defeated, don't come with me with crap like that. And your squad, caring less about others? Don't joke, I'm sorry to say your superiors are the perfect example for this rule's lack."

"What do you mean?"

"If Yachiru dies, or if she's even hurt, your captain is the first one to kill everything around. If Kenpachi were to die, we'd know for real what Yachiru is about."

Yumichika smiled as he started to play around with Kira's hair, to see what could be done with it.

"Hisagi told me you wanted to cut it."

"Yeah… do you mind?"

"Not at all, you've helped a lot, Kira. Thanks"

"It's nothing…" Izuru answered, smiling kindly, while the other took out a pair of scissors and a comb.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"I suppose I'll make things clear when he stops overreacting."

"You're being too cruel! Consider how weird he must feel."

"I know he feels weird. That's why I'm leaving him alone for a while, until he wants to talk. You'd do the same."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't kiss him to shut a girl up. I'd kiss the girl instead."

"Believe me, if you do that, the gal will get crazy over it."

"And Yumichika did not?!"

"But at least, the girl shut up, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah…" Shuuhei added, drinking from the bottle and tilting his head to the side, smiling.

"As I say, put yourself in my place, if for some reason you kissed Kira when you obviously don't feel the same way…"

"What are you talking about?"

Ikkaku opened his eyes wide, and then smiled mischievously.

"Ooohhh… seems I said too much, I hope he doesn't cut my head when he gets to know."

"Seriously, Ikkaku-san, you're not used to beer or anything asides from sake, stop drinking."

"Don't get nervous, Hisagi. You'd have to know sooner or later he likes you."

"He doesn't. He's not gay. And if he were, why me?"

"Oi, I'm not Kira, but it's obvious he has a crush, a serious one, on you."

"Who told you that?" Ikkaku shivered as he felt the sudden increase in Shuuhei's reiatsu and the deadly killing intent on his eyes. Everybody knew Ikkaku was not a coward, but one thing he had learned from his multiple years and battles as a seated officer of de Gotei 13 was not to make the ninth division fukutaichou angry… or you'd seriously regret it.

"Oi, Oi, I didn't make it up, if that's what you think!!! Somebody told me!"

"So who said it?!" His voice was rough, and the killing intent rose. Ikkaku shivered.

"Fine, fine! It was…"

But in that moment, the door of Yumichika's room slammed open, and Izuru went out of there running, though, one of Yumichika's arms crept out and grabbed the blonde's shirt, tugging to get him inside.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TOO MUCH!!!"

"COME HERE, YOU BITCH, I'M NOT DONE!!!!"

"Seriously, you told me not to worry about his virginity, but now I'm starting to believe you're a liar, Madarame!" Shuuhei had stood up from the chair, after seeing such a terrified Izuru. He ran towards the two to separate them, and then he noticed Izuru had the hood of his sweated up, and was struggling against Yumichika who was trying to trim his hair correctly.

"Oi, Oi, Kira!!!" He scream, making him to raise his head. Yumichika frowned, but he smiled when Izuru lowered the hood. "Why are you overacting?"

"This guy screwed my hair!"

"I'm not done, Kira!!!"

"But it's too short!"

"No, it's not." Hisagi interrupted, taking his chin and checking his face in all the angles possible. "Let Ayasegawa finish, you look fine."

Kira starred into his eyes, almost like if he was begging Shuuhei to save him. His shoulder length blonde hair was cut 10 cm approximately, and his fringe was not completely trimmed, but it was a little bit shorter than before.

"I'm just missing the fringe, let me trim it a little bit and give you a hair pin, so we can actually see you have two eyes, Kira!"

"Do you really think I don't look THAT bad, Senpai?"

Hisagi smiled at the question, but then Ikkaku's words came to his mind, and the smile vanished. Somewhat, Kira had started to look incredibly cute, with his hair shorter, just like in the moment they met in the academy. Hisagi noticed the heat on his face, and gulped, trying to calm down.

"Y-yeah! You look great!, now hurry, we have to get home!"

"Uhmm… yeah, sorry…" Izuru turned around to face Yumichika, who was still carrying the scissors, but was no longer watching both of them, but the one who was behind Shuuhei: Ikkaku. Yumichika frowned and sighed, without removing the deadly glare from the bald man.

"Hisagi… do you mind finishing his hair at your home?"

"Uhmm… no, but you were doing it, the last time I interfered you said you were going to kill me for ruining your be… OUCH!" Izuru had punched him on the stomach, taking the scissors and bowing thankfully to Yumichika, then he dragged Hisagi outside of the house, leaving Yumichika and Ikkaku, standing in front of each other.

"Can we talk?" Yumichika whispered, sadness filled his voice a little, Ikkaku noticed, but he nodded and went inside the room, as both of them noticed even Keigo seemed interested in their conversation. Kenpachi was still drinking, but was looking at them from the corner of his eyes, and Yachiru had stopped throwing popcorn at the TV screen. Even the little Shinigami knew the tension was so dense it could be cut with a butter knife, so she remained silent, and smiled when Yumichika looked at her. He returned the smile when she blinked to him, and then he closed the door.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"I'm not mad anymore, Ikkaku." Yumichika said softly, erasing the frown from his face. "I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"If any girl would do as she did, you'd do the same, then everyone would think you're in some kind of affair with me, or… I don't know. They would look down on you. I don't like that."

"Ah, Yumi that doesn't matter. Asides from that, when you came out nobody looked down on you."

"Ikkaku, you didn't talk to me for a whole week, and after that, you told me you've _always_ known, you just got mad at me for never telling you at least. Just… how fake can you be?!"

Ikkaku frowned and sulked a little. Why did he have to be so sharp?

"Shut up, you're annoying…"

"You started it!!"

"I know. I'm really sorry. I mean it. I never thought you'd get this way…"

"Yeah, I got carried away. Sorry."

"You don't have to be."

"Oh, yes, I _have_ to be…" Yumichika said, sarcasm poisoning each one of his words.

"Why the sarcasm, Yumi?" He said with a large smile on his face.

"You didn't get why I was angry at you, you idiot."

"You've just told me you were not angry at me!"

"Anymore! But I changed my mind! You make me angry, Ikkaku, why do you have to be the typical macho dumbstruck airhead?! I hate you!"

"Typical macho dumbstruck airhead', you say? You don't even make sense anymore, just calm down and, please, forget it already."

"How can I forget?! Don't you see?" Yumichika fisted his hands on Ikkaku's shirt, and it seemed he was about to punch him hard. "I love you…" he whispered, in the saddest tone Ikkaku had ever heard him talk.

Ikkaku didn't say anything. He didn't even frown. He just stared onto the other's orbs. Incredibly, if he was sad, he was as cool and serious as ever, though, he looked quite funny without the kinky feather decorations.

"I'm sorry." Ikkaku muttered, hugging Yumichika with just one arm. He felt the other's slender arms surround his neck, as well as his face burying in his neck. "I knew it all this long. Yet, if you had told me before, believe me I would have never done this."

"Yet if you knew why did you-?"

"If you never dared to told me, how the hell was I supposed to make sure it wasn't just my imagination?"

"I… I don't know…" His grip on Ikkaku's neck tightened, and his voice broke a little. The bald man sighed and patted the other's head, then he pulled back and stared into his eyes. They were somewhat wet, but he knew Yumi was not crying. He sighed.

"How can it be you've been in squad 11 for so long when you're such a girl, seriously?"

"Yeah, but girl or not, you love me anyway…" Yumichika answered, more as a joke than anything.

"Yeah… I think I do."

"W-what?" Ikkaku had answered to his bad pun with no sarcasm, completely serious, and without laughing his ass off. Yumichika shivered, trying to pull away.

"Just…" even if he didn't belong his feelings, Ikkaku was, somewhat, curious. Not that he had never felt something for someone, man or woman, but the fact he never had fallen in love for real. Not that he wanted, in fact, but he was just curious of how this weird feeling was born since those words coming from Yumichika's lips reached his ears. He was not teasing, he was deadly serious. He just wanted to experiment a little. "...Just try not to hate me much when it's over…" He murmured, cupping the smaller man's face and kissing him again. Yumichika seemed to try to push him away, but then he managed to grasp what Ikkaku was trying to discover. They had known each other for so long there were no need of words to know what the other had in mind. They just knew. The younger let go and returned the kiss, resting both of his hands on Ikkaku's neck. After some second they broke apart, and looked into each other's eyes. Incredibly, even the bald man was blushing. Yumichika chuckled, a large smile spreading across his face, as well as a blush on his cheeks.

"Oh my… don't tell me you…?" Yumichika laughed, with his hands still on Ikkaku's neck. Ikkaku smiled as well, ruffling Yumichika's hair and hugging him, this time with both arms. "You're so silly, Ikkaku."

"Yeah, I love you too, idiot."


	6. Friday, I'm In Love

_**A/N:** Forgive me, this is a long ass chapter. But it's fluffy, so it's worth it. Can be divided as the squad twelve part with AkonNemu bit, then the UraYoruSoi moment along with little Ichiruki interaction, and at last the Female Shinigami Assosiation evil plotting, and yaoi fantazising, with a lot of pairing hinting, but focusing more on Nanao and her love/hate relationship with both Iba and Kyouraku, the first pairing having called my impression the most. They make such a good couple, but I'm Pro KyouNana, so let's see how I develope both. Oh, also, there's a BUNCH of reference to Ouran High School Host Club in this chapter, manga that belongs to one of my idols, Bisco Hatori-sama o3o_

_Next chapter, The party and Nanao and Iba's bet. _

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**Chapter 6**

**Friday, I'm in love

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**

It was really, really late. Past midnight, actually. But none of them seemed to want to go to sleep. At least the Twelve Squad was not used to ever sleep, or so it seemed. In comparison of the other three, one who was already asleep, the other about to, and one completely wasted on the floor with a large bottle of beer on her remaining hand.

But the other three were completely awaken, the one which was quite doubtful if it was a boy or a girl eating ridiculous amount of candy at an incredible speed, the long braided lieutenant and the seemingly third seat of the squad, with three prominent but small horns popping from his forehead watching TV on the couch. And him? Well, Ishida was about to fall asleep as well, but he had left his bed to Nemu, being the gentleman he was. Still, she said no and refused to sleep. Main reason neither Akon nor Uryu had gone to sleep yet. As it seemed, it was going to be a sleepless night.

The Quincy, after another hour passed, gave up on waiting for the girl to fall asleep. Ganju had woken up to carry the small 4th squad member to his room and close the door, then carry his own sister and went inside with her, and didn't come out again. Ishida bowed at the three remaining people, and then went to his own room.

"Heh! I won Akon-san!" the androgynous said sticking out the large lollypop from his/her mouth. "Ishida-san does sleep!"

"I never bet, you dumb. Of course he sleeps, he's an human, after all."

"Oi, Oi! Akon-san, Akon-san!"

"What do you want, Rin?"

"Why is it our squad never sleeps?"

"Because Kurotsuchi-taichou modified us so we'd be his slaves for the rest of eternity. That's why you like candy."

Rin squealed and started to lick the lollypop again, making the older man to smile. Akon turned back to the TV, and his eyes caught Nemu. The smile disappeared. What he had told the little Shinigami was not far from the truth. Maybe not the two of them, but if there was one person to be doomed for eternity being nothing but a puppet and slave to Mayuri's desires, was his own daughter. He sighed as he saw her expressionless eyes star at the soap opera on the TV. He wondered some times what was she thinking, and how was it even possible for something so beautiful and so pure to be created by science. It was unnatural. But so was Mayuri. And said man was his boss. He was unable to do anything…

"Akon-san…" Nemu's voice broke the silence after a while, making the man to break his sudden mind emancipation.

"What's it?"

"I don't understand something…"

"What?"

She pointed at the TV idly and the man looked at the soap opera for a while.

"They keep talking about something I don't understand."

"Well… usually soap operas don't make much sense, Nemu."

"What is love?"

Well… that was unexpected. Akon stared at her again, not sure of what to tell.

"It's quite hard to describe…" he admitted. "Something not even science is able to explain with words" He understood now why was it Nemu didn't get it at all. If it was not scientifically described, Mayuri had no interest in it.

"It's not that hard…" Rin interfered, clinging his/her small body from the couch. "It's simple, because your brain is not the one who controls it, but your heart. It's like candy, I guess."

"Like candy?" Akon asked, a bit intrigued.

"Yeah… you can't never get enough. You don't pick your favorite candy, it just… comes. And you can't get rid of it. Once you have a bit, you want more and more. It's sweet, and can be a little bitter some time, or even spicy. But it's sweet overall. Once you taste it, your heart flutters, and you feel butterflies inside your belly…" Rin continued licking the lollypop until she/he finished it, and it seemed Nemu was trying to comprehend the information. Akon smiled, it seemed love could be described after all…

"Akon-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

Akon opened his eyes wide. That was for sure, the question that won the award of the night. His smile grew wider and looked into Nemu's eyes.

"Yes, I think I have."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"My, my, what brings you here this late?" Renji asked, sliding the door of the shop, and facing a very exhausted trio. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Shut up and let us in, Aka Pine!"

"Don't call me that, Berry-chan!"

"Shut it you two…"

"Hey, Dwarf, it's your fault that Hige went crazy and wanted to _seriously_ adopt you onto my family!"

"DON'T CALL ME DWARF! I'M NOT SMALL!"

"So what are you? Pocket size?" Renji asked, and the three men, even Byakuya, laughed at Rukia's expression.

"Nii-sama!!! You too?" She said at the border of tears.

"Anyway, what would make anyone want to adopt you?... no offence, Taichou."

"It might be I'm completely adorable and huggable." Another laugh in chorus came, but this time Byakuya coughed and fixed is cold expression.

"Might we stay here? At least until Kurosaki senior calms and stops insisting."

"You don't have to ask for it, Taichou!" Renji said, letting the three of them (mainly, and most likely only Byakuya, but he didn't have any other option but let Ichigo and Rukia enter as well).

"So, what have you been doing?... asides from stealing Urahara-san's food and possibly Yoruichi-san's underwear, pervert…"

"I've not done any of that! And well, we've been arranging the things for the party… you should come to have a look."

"You sure? Urahara said we should step aside and…"

"He told that to you. And asked Rukia not to interfere so you'd think none of your gang is helping. But actually, all of them helped. It's just Urahara-san said that to you because you're a mindless retard who kills everything your fingers touch, except but Rukia."

"That's not true!!"

"Actually, Ichigo…" Rukia muttered, not looking at the boy directly. "It _is_ true."

Ichigo froze with his mouth wide open, staring in disbelief at the petite girl, who smiled shyly, scratching her head.

"But, H-Heh, don't mind about it, silly…"

"Anyway, are you coming, Ichigo?"

"Uhmm… yeah." He answered, molested.

They walked towards the room where the trapdoor that leaded to the secret training grounds were. Renji lifted it cautiously and let the couple and his captain enter, then he entered, closing it afterwards.

Ichigo opened his mouth wide again. It was completely changed do what he had seen when they trained under there.

The enormous rock walls have disappeared, being replaced by tall, white elegant and antique pillars, and seemingly, the blue sky had changed from daytime to a beautiful, starry night sky. It was as large as the training ground once was, but it looked much more sophisticated, just by the fact it looked, indeed, like a ballroom under the stars.

"Urahara-san… don't you think you did it too elegant?!"

"OH NO, KUROSAKI IS HERE! RUN TO THE BUNKER!!"

"It's no fun…"

"OH MY GOD! A BUILDING-SIZED HOLLOW IS GOING TO COME AND SEND THIS ALL TO HELL!!! RUN, KISUKE, RUN!" Yoruichi screamed, making fun of Ichigo as well as her friend was doing, running in circles with his can up in the air.

"Seriously! Stop it!"

"Yeah, If you don't, Ichigo's gonna cry."

"That might be interesting to see…" Byakuya said, crossing his arms over his chest, inspecting the room. It was indeed elegant, at least, it fitted his status. He glanced around, there were four large chandeliers hanging from the top of the pillars, but somehow, it seemed they were floating. Three quarters of the whole thing were made from the dance floor, while the other small part had several unarranged tables, that needed to be put in their places yet. On a corner of the dance floor was the stereo and the spinning table from the DJ, as well as the light system and the, for his misfortune, what seemed to be a karaoke. He gulped. Turning to the other side of the dance floor was a part where it seemed there would be a small orchestra playing, due to the fact there were several abandoned instruments lying over some elegant chairs. There was also a table specifically for booze and all the stuff he was sure the lieutenants and a certain captain with a colorful haori would enjoy.

The tables were already covered with a white tablecloth each one, and there were several flower arrangements around the room, which also seemed they had yet to be placed over the tables. It seemed, at least, like a decent party, or that would be, unit the moment Renji, Kira and Hisagi, possibly Matsumoto too, wouldn't be able to tell how were they named and the fact they're at least a century and half old and started to sing old songs on the karaoke, and managed to drag him into singing something… Byakuya sighed. It ought to be a large, interesting night.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So, how is it going, Kurosaki-kun?" Urahara asked, after he stopped running.

"Very nice, but don't you think it's a little bit too… luxurious? I mean, it's coming from their salaries and our monthly money, you know?"

"Yeah, but the room it's actually just a silly Kido spell which only has use in this occasions. Also, half of the things we needed to decorate came from Yoruichi and Kuukaku's part, specially the second one, since she does parties all time in her weird shaped houses. The only thing that actually comes out of everyone's salary is the music and light system. Everything else was already done."

"Oi... don't forget to tell him, Kisuke…"

"Oh, sure listen, Kurosaki-kun… for the past three weeks, I've got no sleep at all. And when I finally got the chance to rest, you come with all this party thing. What's worse, you destroy EVERYTHING you touch, so, Yoruichi-san and I had to do EVERYTHING. I hope you have enough to pay me back…"

"Uhmm… what do you want?"

"You'll clean, sweep, cook and attend at the shop during your whole winter vacations. No excuse, everyday, during a whole month. If you don't I'm going Bankai on your ass, my dear friend…"

Ichigo gulped and nodded. If one thing he had learned during his training with the eccentric blonde, was not to make him angry while he was lacking sleep.

"Fine!" Urahara added cheerfully, jumping back with his childhood friend, who was arranging the flowers to place them on the tables.

Ichigo walked towards the couple and grabbed Urahara's arm.

"OH NO, HE TOUCHED YOU! YOU'RE GONNA DIE, KISUKE!!!" Yoruichi scream, hugging him and laughing after that, running away from Ichigo sticking out her tongue.

Urahara laughed as well, but then he stopped when he looked at the boy's serious look on his face.

"So, what's the matter, Kurosaki-kun? You don't like it?"

"No, that's not it, I actually like it very much. The matter is, what has kept you from sleeping, Urahara-san?"

"Oi, you're worried about me? HOW SWEET!"

"Don't joke, I was thinking maybe something wrong happened! I mean, Soifon taichou is not around, so I thought maybe something happened in Soul Society with nobody knowing!"

"No, nothing happened. And she's not here, because she greatly despises me since three weeks ago."

"Why?"

"Wow, now you're curious!"

"Not really, it's just I can't imagine a reason for her to hate you even more." Ichigo smiled. Somewhat, it hinted that Yoruichi was the main reason of all the discussion. "But that leaves me thinking… does all of this has to do with Yoruichi-san?"

Urahara's smile vanished and covered his face with his paper fan.

"What makes you think that, Kurosaki-san?"

"Nah, nothing really…just the fact Soifon might only hate you more than she already does if it has to do with her master."

Urahara smiled and started to laugh nervously, but then he remained silent and dragged Ichigo apart from Yoruichi, who was having a vivid discussion with her dear "Byakuya Boy".

"Listen… the matter of fact here is that I had been roaming over telling Yoru-chan to… you know… formalize things and stuff since a while ago… I was talking to Tessai about it the other day, a month ago, while our lovely squad 2 captain was around on a mission from Yama-san, and she heard. For some reason, I feared she might tell or warn Yoruichi about it, and not only that, but I was making mischievous plan to tell her myself. The point is, Soifon went back to Soul Society just some days before we were told we needed to organize the party, and she came back with all the people, telling me she'd rip off my man pride if I ever dared to make her master upset. In resume, Kurosaki-san, I've not have asleep for almost a month, fearing that some night while I tried to do so, she'd appear and kill me! Then you arrive and ask the biggest favor you'll ask in your entire life, to me. So, it's basically your fault I'm in this bad mood. At least this week it has been your fault."

Ichigo listened, seemingly a bit impressed. The he smirked, to Urahara's demise.

"So…? Formalizing things with her, uh?"

"Yeah, well…"

"I know you two have been sleeping together for quite a long time, I'm not that stupid. The point here is, the first step for "formalizing" is living together, thing you already do. Then comes marriage, isn't it?"

"Not necessary…"

"But you're asking her to marry you, don't you, Urahara-san?"

Ichigo tried not to laugh when he saw a soft bush spreading across the blonde's face and said man scratching his cheek, nervously.

"The word 'Marriage' is a little bit too… strong, Ichigo." Urahara gulped. "I don't like that word"

"So you're going to ask her to 'formalize' with you using one of those cheesy and old phrases people like my dad use to woo women?"

"Of course not!"

"So?"

Urahara smirked as well, fanning himself with the paper fan he always carried.

"Shinigami have a kind of special way of asking for a woman's hand."

"Oh, yeah, by the way, isn't she for a royal family or something?"

"Yes, she is." Urahara's smirk grew wider. "But fortunately, I'm in good terms with her father, tough it was until I was proven innocent. That, and the fact he already knows what I'm intending."

"He knows you sleep with her?"

"Noooo. You silly, you never tell your lover's parents you're having sex every night, you idiot! You know what would Kuchiki-san would do to you if you ever tell him you've finally made Rukia-chan a woman?! "

Ichigo blushed and started to shake his head side to side.

"I'd never do that!!"

"You say that now. You're only sixteen anyway."

"Why is it everyone keeps saying that?!"

"Because it's probable all the people who told you this are men, Ichigo, one day you'll have to become one and just do it."

Ichigo frowned and gave the blonde a menacing look.

"What?"

"Urahara-san…"

"Yes, Ichigo?"

"I hate you…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"The meeting enters in…. Captain Hitsugaya, what are you doing here?!"

"Do you intend me to leave this place, Ise?"

"Well… it's the first time the whole Association gets to be together, having a man is… inappropriate."

"You are saying you want to rush this thing because it's probably your captain comes to pick you up and forces you on a date, don't you?"

"I- I never said that!" _Oh, but you did though it, Nanao-chan…_

"Yeah! Taichou, why don't you go and play soccer, or go and flirt with Ichigo's sister?"

"I'm not leaving, Matsumoto… flirting?"

"Well, if you're to stay, you'd have to adjust yourself to the rules."

"Which rules? If Matsumoto is here there's no possibility there are rules!"

"Yes, there is at least one, Taichou."

"What? I'll stand it."

"No, you won't, Shiro-chan!"

"Don't call me that, Hinamori! And tell, what is it Matsumoto?!"

"You have to be a woman, or-"

"Of course I can't do that! What do you want me to do? Dress like one?"

"Well, you have to be a woman or play as one, so you choose."

Hinamori giggled, and Matsumoto smirked. The white haired Shinigami rose on his feet and walked out of the door.

"Ooohhh… so sad… I had the perfect cocktail dress to put him in."

"You did?"

"He's the same size as you, Hinamori. Remember the blue, pale dress you brought yesterday on the sale we went? It suits Taichou perfectly!"

"Rangiku-san, you know sake is prohibited on this meetings!" Nanao said, hitting the table with her book.

"I'm not drinking! I swear!"

"Well, then… I think this is the first meeting we're all in…"

"No, there are not all." Isane said, a little of nervousness on her voice.

"Who's missing?"

"IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME!!!!" Yachiru's squealing voice creaked into the room, making all the women inside of it to shiver.

"President! Why are you late?!"

"Sorry, sorry, Nanao-chan! I'd been doing some research all night!"

"About?"

"What Ken-chan calls gay people!"

Nanao chocked with her tea, raising both of her eyebrows in clear surprise.

"What?!"

"YAY! Pachinko head and Chika-bow-bow are in wuv!"

Matsumoto started to jump around, laughing out loud and pointing at Nanao, screaming at the top of her lungs "I told you!"

"Are you sure?" Ise said, leaving the cup on the table. _What kind of education Kenpachi is giving her?!_

"Yup!! Pachinko head kissed Yum-Yum because our host wasn't going to shut up about her future life with Baldie, so Yum-Yum got angry, and then Izurun and Shuu-chan came so Yum-Yum could do Izurun's hair! It seems Izurun got a good talk with Chika, and Shuu-chan with Pachinko head, so after Izurun came running out of Chika's room because his hair was short and spiky, Yum-Yum and Baldie got to talk! After some hours they came out, Yum-Yum giggling, and the other hugging him!"

"Y-You're sure?! W-What did Zaraki-taichou said?!"

"YUP! Ken-chan said as long it didn't have to do anything with him, he wasn't going to complain, and as long as Baldie didn't started to act like a girl, it'd all be fine… I tell you, Nanao-san!!! The sales on this are going to be a GREAT SUCCESS!!"

"Ah, President, we're only selling their photos of the party? We should get more… resources."

"What do you mean with resources?! Women love gay men!!!!" Matsumoto scream, carrying Yachiru on her back. "The sales are gonna reach their top when we start selling Boy x Boy hot action! We soooo have to get them drunk!!"

"Hah, why do you want them drunk? They're already stupid completely sober!"

"Yeah, but maybe they'll change places, you know…"

"Oh! You mean Yumi being Seme?!"

Nanao opened her mouth wide… seriously, what the hell did Kenpachi let that girl do on her free time?!

"Not only that!!!" Yachiru said, after some seconds of silence. "It seems there might be something happening between Izurun and Shuu-chan, as well!!"

"Shuuhei and Kira?! No way!!" Matsumoto said, taking a sip from her tea, which Nanao was seriously wondering if it was rather sake than tea. "They're too good to be gay, they'd be a great loss for women out there!!!" Several of the other members nodded, such as Rukia and Momo.

"Why do you think that? They've been my friends for years and I've never noticed anything happening between them!" Momo asked, smiling widely.

"Ooohhh!! It was because for some odd reason Baldie told Shuu-chan that there was a probability Izurun had a little crush on him, but Shuu didn't believe it! Then when Izurun came down from stairs, he was all blushed covering his face and hair with his hands, and Shuu forced him to show what was wrong with it, to what he said he looked nice, AND BLUSHED!"

Matsumoto gasped, covering her mouth with a hand.

"Oh, my, Shuuhei has fallen!"

"What about Kira-kun?"

"I don't know who told Pachinko head about Izuru's crush, but as it seems, Yumi also knows, and it seems to be truth, even if Izurun is still in denial!"

"So, Kira-kun has a crush on Hisagi-Senpai? Now that you tell it it's a little bit too painfully obvious…" Momo stated, scratching her neck.

"So, we have a secure Shonen-ai photo shoot and another one pending, isn't it?"

"Yup, plus sum all the others that come at night after ten rounds of liquor."

"Who do you have in mind, Matsumoto-san?" Isane asked, bringing more tea for her captain, who was, even for Nanao's amusement, interested in the little chat.

"Maybe Renji… but he seems more as a Bachelor for life, and probably Kuchiki-Taichou if we make him drink."

Rukia laughed, shaking her head.

"I bet you'll not be able to make Nii-sama drink a single drop of alcohol! He's so straighten up with rules he'll never drink!"

"Ooohhh… or so that's what our young Kuchiki-chan says…" Matsumoto stated, poking her nose. "I don't know if you notice, but we have a large crew of seductive women here that can make any men get drunk if we want."

"You're talking about yourself, Rangiku-san!" Orihime squealed, smiling widely. "The title 'Every Soul Society's Man's Weakness' fits you like a ring to the finger!"

"Ah, come on, I don't pride myself on that… but I can't deny it's true." Matsumoto's cheerful grin disappeared, as she took her cup again. "But I'm sorry, I'm not flirting with him. Specially not with Kuchiki-taichou, I'm sorry."

Orihime's smile disappeared. Maybe out of all the people there, she was the closest one to understand the woman's feelings. The fact Byakuya had been, as far as Orihime knew, one of Ichimaru's closest friends was probably the reason she wasn't making a move. Rangiku loathed Ichimaru with all her soul, but her heart would never be able to do the same. She had trusted him, and deep inside her being, she still did. So, Orihime knew she'd never betray the trust he had in her, even thought he did betray her.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Maybe things come out if we have luck, since Kuchiki taichou never attends the annual party, this might be our chance to lure him into the dark side." Kiyone said cheerfully, helping her sister with the teapot.

"Oh, well… we still have to do the album photo of this year, featuring the top ten male Shinigami this year."

"Byakuya is first as always, if I'm not wrong." Yoruichi stated, as she helped Soifon to braid her hair.

"Yeah, he was voted first again." Nanao said, checking the papers.

"Second is Shiro-chan!" Momo said cheerfully checking the sheet.

"Haha, I have the perfect picture of him, though the one with Hinamori's dress would have won!"

"Fine… then it's Ukitake taichou…" Nanao glanced at the 4th division captain, who smiled kindly. Then she glanced at the younger Kotetsu sister, who didn't locked her sight with hers. At least she knew who had granted Ukitake some votes, so it didn't amaze her. He was not ugly, anyways. And in words of some women she knew, 'his sickness made him cute'. People were getting more weird everyday…

"The next, amazingly, is Hisagi. I thought he'd be third, actually." Nanao smiled. "Do we still have the photos Rangiku-san took past year?"

"You mean the ones where he and Kira are naked and you censored them?"

Nanao nodded, and both women shared a mischievous smile.

"Hah… next one is Kira."

"Seriously?! THAT'S A SIGNAL!!" Matsumoto squealed like a fan girl, taking the list.

"W-What?"

"Yeah!!! One on top of the other! And Izuru is bottom!"

"That means he's Uke!" Yachiru scream, jumping from her chair between Nanao and Matsumoto. "GREAT SUCCESS!"

"Can you imagine them together, actually?" Rangiku asked, and a whole silence filled the room.

"OH MY GOD, THAT'D BE SO MOE!!!!" Rangiku and Yachiru screamed at the same time, clasping their hands together. There were several other squeaks around the room, between the Kotetsu sisters hugging Nemu in between, who was blushing and smiling in approbation, little giggles of Unohana, Orihime's and Rukia's mad cackling, and it seemed even Soifon had liked the idea. Yoruichi just smiled, but there was no refusing that'd be completely adorable from her part. The only one who seemed to be regretting being part of all of this was Nanao. Just what a bunch of freaks she had got involved with?!

"Well…"

"Oh, Nanao, don't tell me you don't like the idea!"

"It doesn't makes me uncomfortable, though, it's not the point. They're not officially a couple, but they're still suitable to be the "Best Couple of the Year" right?"

"Oh, yeah…"

"Who won past year?" Orihime asked, and everybody in the room pointed at Matsumoto, who smiled and rose her hands in front of her.

"Oi, Oi, it was nothing serious!"

"Nothing serious… you're a liar. Sorry for bringing this up, Rangiku-san, but you were so cute together; you were the only one who made him look cute, actually..."

Matsumoto looked at her clenched fists, and she pulled back her hair with elegance.

"Oi, wait! We missed 5 people up there! Izuru was fifth, who's the next?"

Nanao took the paper again, and smiled.

"Seems Kurosaki-kun became suddenly popular between girls in this place." Rukia smiled, and glanced by the corner of her eyes at Orihime, who was enjoying a large piece of cake along with Yachiru. She knew Ichigo had also been voted by Orihime, but she didn't say a thing. It didn't matter anyway. Even if she had noticed it or not, her feelings for Ishida had suddenly changed drastically, so it didn't worry Rukia at great extent.

"Then is Ogido-kun from the fourth division… he lost several votes… he was fourth past year." Matsumoto sighed, but she smirked. "Anyway, he's still popular enough…"

"The next one is…Akon-san? Nemu, you know something about this?" The girl shook her head, and Nanao rose an eyebrow "I guess he's quite popular in your division, maybe because of his resemblance with Hisagi… oh, fine, never mind."

"Two more to come… 9th place is for Abarai. Ah, his collection of tattoos is growing, and not much girls find it attractive anymore. He need to be 'Fluffy', as Komamura-Taichou's fans say." Matsumoto laughed, and then continued. "Well, doesn't matter, I still consider him ugly." Rukia had busted in laughter, almost hitting Orihime who was also giggling.

Nanao snatched the paper from the golden haired woman, who smirked.

"And the tenth, Nanao? Who's it?! Who's it?!" Rangiku said, jumping from side to side trying to read the paper, but the black haired woman moved so she wouldn't look. Anyway, Matsumoto knew there was a certain hairy man with a large hat and pink haori upcoming, thing that didn't make Nanao a happy Shinigami.

"Nobody we should care about… out of the 10th first places, the next five have to be at least featured, which are 11th Ayasegawa, and we better not mention this to him or he'll complain about why the hell he's not on the top10 as last time, 12th Madarame, 13th Yamada Hanataro, 14th Ishida Uryu, (_who should not be listed here since he's not even a Shinigami), _and the last place was taken by Zaraki Taichou… that's all."

"Oi, did Yamamoto Soutaichou got any votes, from all the contestants?"

"Matsumoto, you actually put the poor man in there? I thought Omaeda was the only blooper we were meant to put."

"Nope, there were several others, but were quite plausible, like… Uryu and Ichigo. They're not Shinigami (Ichigo is a weird thing that came out of Rukia's sword, I'm not sure what the hell is that boy), and they got great positions, anyway."

"Well…" Nanao picked the paper, going to the last page. "The 50th and last place was to Omaeda with 3 votes… which I guess are his mom and both of his sisters. 49th is to Yamamoto Soutaichou with 15 votes… One must be Hitsugaya Taichou's Granny, as it seems, she adores him… and several other old ladies from around here. 48th was Iba…" Nanao laughed, she felt quite sorry for the guy to be placed in such a low place, but she said nothing. "…with 25 votes. I think all his Onee-san and his mom will be proud of him, after all." Nanao's brows furrowed at the thought. Her vote had almost gone to him, but she had that small feeling that Kyouraku Taichou might notice and would be mourning for 'his loss' the whole year, so she preferred to provoke to herself that horrid and at the same time wonderful feeling it produced to her watching the Seventh Squad Lieutenant suffering. "With 40 votes, it's Iemura in the 47th… weird."

"Somebody must have seen him without his sunglasses… maybe it was…" Matsumoto turned around and smiled evilly at Isane, who shivered. "How is he? Is he as handsome as he presumes to be?"

"W-well…" Isane muttered, scratching her forehead. "He's not THAT ugly…"

"You like him?!"

"No!! But he's a good person, he's my comrade… and I guess some nurses might consider him similar to Kira-fukutaichou, but Kira-kun was way much more kind and… less eccentric when he was in the 4th squad…"

"Ah, parallelisms that are so ironic at times… who's next?"

"Kurotsuchi-taichou with 55 votes, on the 46th. I guess this one has also those hidden beauty factor. Or he was voted by all the sadist and mad scientists in soul Society… Nemu, how many women are in the Research Bureau?"

"Fifty six, counting myself… probably fifty seven if we ever get to discover what is Rin in reality."

"Ooohhh… so you didn't voted for him?!" Nemu blushed, and Matsumoto cackled. "I have my theories, but… whatever. Let's say half of the bureau voted for him and the other for Akon-san, since he seems quite proficient with shy girls." She said it with all the bad intention she could make her words posses.

"Then… with 56 votes, the 45th was taken by…who the hell is this Kurumadani guy?!"

Rukia blasted in laughter again, rolling in the floor.

"Almost 60 people actually voted Kuruma-san?! It must be the Pimp Afro, I bet!"

Orihime also laughed, but then Rukia stopped.

"Hey, Hime, weren't you going to bring Arizawa-chan today, so she'd meet everyone?"

"Oh, No… Tatsuki had to go to the dojo for a ceremony today, so she wasn't able to come… she says it doesn't matter actually, that she doesn't want to involve with Shinigami that much if all of them are as Kurosaki-kun and the ones that she had to 'babysit'."

"She took Hisagi, Kira, Iba and Komamura-taichou, didn't she?"

"Yup!"

"Oh, now I see why." Matsumoto laughed.

Nanao took the papers and rearranged them, then she coughed to drag the attention back. "Going back to the subject we were before… the best couple of the year. Rangiku won past year, so she's not to be selected."

"Anyway, do you have any propositions, asides from Ikkaku and Yumichika?" Matsumoto asked. "Because I have a huuuuuge list of candidates!"

"Don't tell me I'm in the top of that list along with Kyouraku-taichou or I'm gonna kill you, Rangiku-san…"

"No, of course not, you're second!"

Nanao opened her eyes wide, she was always first, not that she wanted it, but she simply was, in everybody's lists.

"So?"

"Heh, nothing official yet, but…" She leaned closer and whispered something into Nanao's ear, who smiled. "Oh, and also…" she kept up whispering, and Nanao's mischievous smile grew. "…And that's just the beginning of the list. If you want to check the rest, I have some interesting propositions there."

"Ok… well, then I beg for everyone to write your top ten couples of the year, or the ones that give you that vibe, and give them to me when you're done. Remember it's forbidden to vote for yourselves. Also, there's another thing Kuchiki-san brought up that quite picked my interest… would you mind to instruct us about it?"

"Of course not…" Rukia stood up from the pillow she was sitting, and took out a Tankobon from her pocket. "As you should know by far, manga is greatly popular among the human teenagers in Japan and across the whole globe. The thing is, Orihime lend me one of her favorites and it gave me the greatest idea ever! Ise-san already agreed with me to do this thing, the matter here is, to make the top ten men, and others if requested, to do it."

"What is it, Kuchiki?"

She showed the cover of the manga to them, revealing a well-known series that occurred on a high school for rich and prominent kids, about a girl that's confused with a boy, and due to the fact she breaks an expensive jar, she has to act as a host on a club of the school.

"What's with that, Rukia? I don't get it!"

"Listen, the idea came to me when I saw this dude that somehow looks like the evil lovechild of Ise-san and Ishida (with no intention to offend, he just looks like it) talking about the money they'd earn if they did some 'fan service'… you know what this means, don't you?"

All the women in the room smiled.

"Then again…" Orihime interrupted. "You mean you want the top ten to do 'fan service', but how are we supposed to convince them?"

"Two things, little Orihime…" Matsumoto said, standing up. "Alcohol and…" She walked towards the orange haired girl and opened half of her shirt. "Revealing outfits!"

Orihime squealed, clasping her shirt again, blushing.

"Don't you think we should make a little bet, Rangiku-san?"

"Bet?"

"Yup. To bother Iba a little."

"Ooohhh, Ise, you evil bitch…" Rangiku said, smiling widely. "You love to toy that idiot, don't you?"

"Yeah, but he needs us, anyway. What about it? Shall we do it?"

"But Iba is not even in the top 20… what use would it have?"

"All the other members in his 'Association' excepting from Omaeda, are rated over him. And excepting those two and Iemura, all the others are in the top ten. And as far as I know, the only one who's not related in any way to the club is Kuchiki taichou, the other men in the list, are somehow non-official members."

"Ooohhh, Ise, you evil mastermind!!! You can even surpass Aizen's plotting if you keep practicing!"

"No, I'm cold hearted, but I'm not psychopath… yet."

"But what would be the purpose of this bet?"

"Look: if we win, they'd have to do the fan service thing. If they win, we have to do that for them."

"As long and there's not much showing off… I think it'd be fine."

"Yeah, cosplay is always fun!" Orihime squealed, and everyone in the room looked intrigued at her, except from Rukia. "Oh… sure. Cosplay is the abbreviation of Costume Play, so it'd mean we dress as something else, be it movie theme or Manga characters, even legends or myths, but so do they."

Everyone smiled and a little chatter started, but Nanao coughed to call the attention again.

"Well, that leaves us up to decide what the bet will be a…"

In that moment the door flung open. Nanao turned around in a flash, to see Hitsugaya standing in the door with a cold expression on his face. The he smiled. And Nanao was completely scared.

"Hey, Ise… I brought something for you to have fun with…"

"W-What is it, Hitsugaya-Taichou?" She asked politely, fixing her eyeglasses.

"NANAOOOOO-CHAAAAAN!!!"

"Your dearly beloved, Ise-Fukutaichou."

"NO! NOT IN THIS LIFE!" She screamed, opening Orihime's window and placing a foot on the windowsill. "You're all dismissed!!" She screamed, using her shumpo to get away. _Now run away from that old pervert! Run and hide to the only place he'd Never go! Go to the Medicine and Science Section of the Library! Run for your life, Nanao, Run!_


	7. No you Girls!

_**A/N:** Teheheeeee the party starts on this one, but I had to add some fluff before!!! LALALA I'm so happy, and I don't know whyyy!!!! (well, yeah, I know, I blame Karakura Heroes video from the PSP game, search it on YouTube... and also Hetalia and Harry Potter, they make me happy :D)_

_On thiiiiis one I explain some stuff to make sense to some random and weird stuff Kubo-sensei portraits on his series (Komamura's wolf-like shape, Ukitake's decease, Akon's horns, the fact Ishida had been stabbed for more than 10 manga chapters now and I haven's seen any IshiHime healing fluff... etc)... and I manage to make it all take some kind of sense._

_Title inspired by Franz Ferdinand's song, cuz they rock my socks :D_

_**WARNINGS: **Some slight Twilight bashing on this one, because I GREATELY dislike it :D and I had lived a __really simmilar situation XD_

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**No You Girls!

* * *

**

Nanao stomped down onto the library, running as fast as her legs allowed her. Her Gigai was not done for using Shumpo for long periods of time, but she managed to get away from the claws of Hitsugaya and Kyouraku.

She entered the place and walked towards the medicine hall, and started to check the books around, passing a finger through the whole line of books piled up on a table. She had read a great amount of all those books, so she went to another hall. She was somehow a feminist but reading books about women defending their rights wasn't Nanao's thing. Instead, she found herself in front of some books for men. Not "erotic novels" as Renji used to call the nasty books he got from his birthday, but… books for men. Nanao pondered… she had never read one of those. She picked one that had caught her attention, and by far, even if she and only seen the cover, she knew it was going to make her laugh a lot. She took the book with the purple cover which had the label "The Ranting of a Single Man" On the cover. She walked to the reading section and sat in front of a man who was engulfed in his lecture. She didn't look at him, she just opened her book and started to read.

"Ise…" She jumped. She knew that voice. "What the hell are you doin' here?"

Nanao lowered her book, facing none other than Iba.

"Of all people, I had to found you here, Iba-san. I'm not in the mood, please, keep up with your reading and don't bother me."

"Yeah… me neither… just a single question."

"What?" She asked coldly.

"What are you doing reading an antifeminist and woman-hater book?"

"It picked my interest. Kind of a research to figure out why you men are so stupid." She rose her sight from the pages of the book, and smirked behind the cover. "And what are you doing reading such a ridiculous novel like that? I didn't know you liked romantic stuff, Iba-san!"

"I-it's not romantic!!!" He shouted. "And I'm not reading it because I want to do so!" He lowered his voice when he noticed he was still on the library. "Th-this book is awful, but if helps to figure out women's thoughts. You're not so complicated, this book shows it!"

"Iba-san, you're reading a book about a stupid teenager who falls in love with a 117 years old virgin sparkling vampire. Does it sounds ANY real to you?!"

Iba sweat-dropped. Damn it.

"Fine… the woman from the reception told me this was a good book, but it's not. The point is I wanted to run away from Hisagi and Kira. They're getting annoying."

"More annoying than usual?"

"I blame Yumichika. He must have said something to Kira, than the boy is acting more girly than ever."

"Come on, go easy on him."

"No, seriously. He's worse than ever."

Then Nanao remembered the earlier conversation she held with her association before, and her smirk grew wider. She was going to make the man talk, whether he liked it or not.

"Anyway, I know it's more often to see you here, but what are you doing? Weren't you in a meeting with your people?!"

"Yeah, but my Taichou interfered."

"So you ran away…"

"Most likely."

"Ah, Ise… sometimes when I get to talk with you without fighting, just like this, I can't help but wonder what will be of you."

"What do you mean?" She shut the book and looked at him after fixing her glasses.

"Yeah. You're so cold and so strict, your demeanor will lead you nowhere. You have a great, great potential to have all the love, and possibly everything else you want just at the palm of your hand and you don't take it. I just wonder, of all women, you're by far the worst of all. I am never going to be able to tell what the hell are you thinking, or how do you feel about something."

Nanao frowned and clenched her fists.

"Maybe it's because everything I want, I can't have it. Just like that."

"You… don't actually like your Taichou, right?"

"No, don't get me wrong." Nanao's smile vanished, and then she sighed, trying to calm the small blush that had spread on her cheeks. "I really like and respect Kyouraku-Taichou, it's just… there's somebody else. And he's way different from Taichou."

"Ooohhh…"

"What?"

"Somewhere beneath the cold façade, Ise Nanao has a heart… I wonder to who does it belong…"

Nanao sighed again, but this time she smiled. _If he only knew…_

"Trust me, Iba-san… you don't want to know."

The spent some time in silence, continuing reading. She heard several chuckles from Iba and grunts of disgust… he was soooo into his lecture Nanao was sure he was about to stand up and start screaming at the top of his lungs what the hell did the author had in mind while writing something like that… but he never did so. Then she remembered. The bet… but it would have to wait to the party to be set, since she needed to talk with the evil masterminds (A.K.A., Rangiku-san and Yachiru) about it. Nanao smiled behind the book.

"Ise… one last question!"

"What is it?" She said, reopening her book and continuing reading.

"Why the hell do you know what this crappy book is about?"

Nanao smirked.

"Iba-san… we never had this conversation…"

Approximately an hour passed, when she stood up and bowed to the older man, who returned the gesture with a smile and a small bow of his head… whenever they weren't fighting, they actually respected each other a lot. She sighed, giving the book to the receptionist and giving a bag to her for carrying it. She went off to search her taichou, who was either lost in the city searching for her, or in a bar or restaurant flirting with young human women. Nanao sighed.

She turned around on a street corner, to find herself being struggled into a bear hug by a large, hairy man with a white, elegant shirt, black jeans, and a pink, colorful and flowery haori she knew so well…

"NANAOOOO-CHAAAAN!!!!!" Kyouraku screamed, hugging her tightly. "Where have you been, sweetie?! I was so worried for my little Nanao!!! I couldn't find you anywhere, I thought you might have been abducted by a Hollow or maybe somebody had tried to do something to you and… and…"

"Just so you know, Taichou, I'm not a defenseless woman, and no, I was in the library with Iba-san." Nanao said calmly and coolly, taking quickly the book out and placing it in front of her face to avoid Kyouraku's wild and passionate kisses.

Kyouraku gasped at the mention of Iba's name.

"Ooohhh!! You're cheating on me, Nanao-chan?! I knew you like hairy man, but what does Tetsuzaemon-san has that I doooon't?!!!"

Nanao sighed. She still had no answer for that question, and she had been thinking of it for a long, long time… but she was so not saying it to him, she'd rather die.

"No, silly, I'm not cheating on you with Iba-san! And even if I did, you and I are nothing more than captain and lieutenant."

"Yeah, yeah, but you love me, don't you?! DON'T YOU?!"

"You're such a kid, Taichou." Nanao lowered the book and pecked a little kiss on Kyouraku's cheek. "But I do love you."

"Nee! Nee! What are you reading?!" He asked, taking the book form her hands after she hit him with it on the head slightly. "Oh, Nanao-chan… this is not cute for a young and beautiful woman like you!! Go and leave it back to the library, it's ugly!!"

"Ah, Taichou, I need to read something else asides from the romantic novels you lend me… and Hinamori-san's books, I have already read them all."

"But this?! Why don't you read _Love in the Times of Cholera _again? I love that book!!"

"Taichou, I have already read it five times…"

"Really? Ooohhh, I thought you have just read it once!"

"No. I've read it when Lisa-chan was still working for you, then again when I became your Lieutenant, one day when you were not able to rest and asked me to read it to you so you could fall asleep, once again in the yearly Book Week of Sereitei and I did my report of it because you wanted me to write about it, and once again, by personal liking, past year"

"Oh, Yeah! I remember two of those! The one when you read to me was so cute!! You simplified the book so I could hear the whole story and after that I fell asleep and dreamed of you, Nanao-chan!!"

Nanao smiled, taking Shunsui's hand and walking with him towards a Spanish restaurant Nanao had promised to take him since the last time she was sent to a mission on the human realm. The woman shut her eyes, and sighed sadly. She really loved Shunsui. And he loved her back. But he just didn't have _that thing_, that even Nanao couldn't get her finger on what was it. He just lacked _it_! And she did felt bad about it. Really, really bad and guilty. Shunsui was great, and he deserved all the love he could get, thing which made Nanao ponder why he wasn't married already. He might be a little of a womanizer, but she really knew inside and beneath the romantic semi gigolo core. She really loved him. But she'd never be good enough for him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Where have you been, Iba-san?" Hisagi asked the moment the older Shinigami entered though the door, grumbling and smashing the door.

"On the library."

"Ooohhh… I didn't know you like to read, Iba-san."

"Shut up, Kira, I went there to escape from you two."

"Us? Why?!"

"Ah, Never mind… where's my taichou?"

"He went out for a walk on his own… you're catching up with him?"

"Probably." Iba sighed, leaving his large coat and placing it on the chair that was closest to him. Then he went out of the house again.

"The library?" Hisagi asked, leaving the empty bottle of beer on the table

"Don't you think he was…?" Izuru asked, raising both of his eyebrows (now that both of his eyes were finally visible) in surprise.

"Most likely."

"Heh… I wonder if he's ever going to tell her."

"No, it's not like him… but somehow I think she feels something."

"Ise-san?! Come on!"

"She might seem cold, but she's really kind inside…"

"You tell that! You goddamned Gigolo!! Just… Senpai! Mention one sole woman you've never been with of the whole Sereitei and I'll pay your food for a month!"

Hisagi rested his head on the back of the couch looking at Izuru. He had to answer that question.

"There's one."

"Yeah?! Who?!"

"Yup. There's some girl I've not laid my hands on… yet" Shuuhei smiled, making the blonde to frown and blush a little. "If I tell you you'll take me out for dinner to the most expensive and luxurious restaurant in the human world and you'll pay?"

Izuru frowned.

"I don't have THAT amount of money."

"Well, then, you'll just pay me dinner and see me eat it for the next month?"

"Knowing how much food you eat, I'd rather buy you clothes…"

"Well…"

"Fine." Izuru sighed. "Tell me."

Hisagi smiled wider.

"Yachiru. You owe me!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey… Taichou!" Iba screamed as he gazed the small copper haired Siberian Husky-like dog walking across the street. Fortunately there were no people around, and the sunset was already falling.

"Tetsuzaemon! What are you doing here? Weren't you on the library?"

"Yeah, I was." Iba kneeled to face his captain, meeting his small golden eyes hidden within the fur. Iba chuckled. "But I came earlier… may I ask you a little indiscrete question, Taichou?"

"Never mind, what is it?" The dog spoke, sitting down and scratching his ear with its paw.

"How… how does it feel? To be in a dog Gigai, I mean."

Komamura raised two hairy eyebrows and scratched behind his ear again.

"Nothing, really. It's quite comfy…" Komamura sighed. "But to be certain, I'm used to the humanoid body, it's weird to walk in four legs after so many time." Iba raised an eyebrow. "You might have always wondered why is it I have this appearance, don't you?"

"Well, yes." The man admitted, but then he added. "Not that I ever minded, but I have wondered."

"When I was alive in this world, I was nothing but a normal wolf. I was killed by humans in belief of having something to do with the werewolves, but it just resulted, even as a living being, I always had a really high reiatsu that affected humans around me. When I came to soul society, the reiatsu affected me somehow, making me turn into a human-like wolf… it's quite weird."

"No, it actually makes pretty much sense… and makes me get a whole lot of other stuff that happen in the division…"

Komamura chuckled and kept walking with is vice captain following him from behind.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the party?"

"Yeah, but there's plenty of time… the same I ask to you, taichou, where were you going?"

"Toushiro-kun told me about a place I might like…"

"Do you mind if I go with you?"

The dog shook his head and continued walking.

The two higher seats of the seventh squad kept walking in silence, since they had already entered a concurred place in Karakura. Komamura stuck to his lieutenant's heels so they wouldn't lose sight of each other, until they arrived to a calm place where not a lot of people passed, just a couple of young teenagers and then, no one else came. It was large, full of green grass and a bit windy, but it was, by far, a beautiful place. It was nearby the road that leaded out of the main city, and the whole Karakura could be seen from that spot, as well as the mountains. The dog-like captain jumped the bard and his lieutenant followed him, and they sat together on the grass. The sunset was already falling, leading into the night. The orange tones of the sky were merging with the midnight blues, and the faint rays of sunlight tinted of gold and pink the clouds. Iba heard his captain sigh, and another blew of the wind made his large and pointy ears to twirl.

"It's a beautiful place, Taichou."

"Yeah… he told me about this place because Toushiro-kun knew I'd like the sunset here… looks a lot of how it looks in there."

"You mean the tomb?"

Komamura nodded, raising his head.

"I wonder where he is now."

"Ah, come on, Taichou… don't think about it anymore… people like them are not worth to remember."

"But somehow, I keep thinking there was still some good inside him." The captain sighed, closing his eyes for a while.

Iba watched the dusk, the thin and fading golden light of sunshine disappearing on the horizon and leaving space to the imperial blue cover that sheltered the sky, completely showered with stars.

"We should go back now, Taichou…"

"Yeah…" The Shinigami muttered, his eyes enchanted by the full moon shining upon the skies. Iba smiled. Even after all those years, there were things even an old stray dog couldn't resist its charms.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh my god…"

Beautiful and stunning was considered as short to describe it. Orihime's eyes wandered around the lightened room as a soft music played. She had been one of the first people to arrive, but it was completely different to what she had seen on the last days and that same morning.

"Do you like it, Inoue-san?" Urahara said, as he took her hand to help her in and lead her to the table she'd be sharing with Ichigo, Rukia, Ishida, Tatsuki, Chad and Renji.

"Urahara-san… this is amazing…" She muttered, her smile growing wider. Urahara smiled too, leading her towards where Ichigo and Rukia were sitting. She gazed the orange headed Shinigami, who opened his eyes wide at the sight of his friend.

"Oh, Inoue! You look nice!" He complimented, giving her a small saluting kiss on the cheek, as well as Rukia did. And it was true. The girl looked really fine in her yellow cocktail dress, her hair slightly curved and loose, but an elegant bun on the back of her head was being entangled with her Shun-Shun Rika hairpins.

"Thanks, Kurosaki-kun!" She said, smiling back and leaving her small bag on a chair. "Uhmm… are the other ones here yet?"

"Ishida went to the shop for some stuff Urahara-san asked along with Renji, and Chad is on his way… Arizawa-san has not arrived yet." Rukia said, twisting her fingers with her boyfriend's, who smiled and kissed her lightly on the lips, but Orihime didn't even seem to flinch. Rukia smiled to this, it seemed Orihime was already over it, and she was glad of it.

"Oh, no… Tatsuki-chan called me, she arrived late from her competition, so she just reached home an hour ago, she's still getting ready."

Ichigo chuckled, standing up and moving a chair for Orihime to sit. She smiled and sat, and Ichigo went back to his place besides the dark haired woman. Rukia was wearing a plain black dress with a large red ribbon on her slender waist, making her look even more thinner and delicate, as well as small. And Ichigo plainly loved that…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ishida walked inside the shop and carried the boxes Urahara had asked him and Renji to bring down to their improvised dance room, then he went back down again, trying to ignore the red haired man's complains about being used and how he was sure he was going to use both of them and Chad as waiters when they less expected it.

Ishida sighed, as he opened the large metal door that separated the staircase from the shop to the new, elegant and beautifully lightened training room.

"Just shut up and help, Abarai-kun! We didn't do much and you're complaining about…" Ishida stopped on his way as he noticed Orihime had already arrived. And not only that, but she was "…beautiful…"

"Did you just said something?" Renji asked, leaving the boxes asides the table Urahara pointed with his cane, and dragged the black haired boy, since he had frozen on his spot.

"W-what?" Ishida asked, shaking his head ad trying not to stare too deeply onto the girl in the yellow dress. "Oh, my… did I said that out loud?"

"What?" Renji asked, smiling mischievously. "That you think Inoue looks gorgeous? No, you didn't. And if you did, let me tell you something, Ishida. It seems the only ones who don't know about how lovely-dovely you're together… are you and her." Renji said in a cool and cruel tone that made Ishida shiver a little as the fukutaichou removed the boxes from his arms, who fell limp to his sides.

"What are you talking about?" He laughed nervously, fixing his glasses and staring coldly at Renji, as both of them walked to reunite with the trio on their table.

"Oh, hi, Renji-kun!" Orihime kissed Renji's cheek and she smiled, then she turned around and saluted Ishida, who blushed unconsciously and froze when he felt Orihime's soft and warm lips against his face. "Hi Ishida-kun!!" She said, and dragged him to a chair besides him. "You promised to dance with me, remember?" Ichigo smirked after hearing this, and then he noticed Tatsuki had just arrived along with Keigo and Mizuiro.

They all saluted each other, and after they were done, Ichigo grabbed both Rukia's and Tatsuki's wrists and pulled them away from the rest of the group.

"What happened?" Rukia asked, embracing him with one arm, to which the tomboy smiled.

"Is it going as expected, Ichigo?"

"Yeah…" He answered with a cool tone, his smirk growing wider. "and neither one of them seems to notice."

"What are you talking about?! You're not allowed to bleach Renji's hair to see if it turns pink, Ichigo!!"

"No, idiot… we're setting Ishida and Inoue. They have to kiss at midnight, and our plans will be a great success. "

"Ichigo, it's the dorks we're talking about." Rukia interfered, slapping her own forehead. "The moment they notice they actually like each other, I bet you Ichimaru, Tousen and Aizen are going to enter through that door!" She said pointing to the metal bars, which opened again with a large creak and Yachiru along with Kenpachi, Ikkaku and Yumichika entered, the first one running towards the candies.

"Oh, fuck… he's here, hide me." Ichigo said, making a barrier with both Tatsuki and Rukia.

"He's not going to kill you, Urahara made Zaraki-taichou promise he'd behave himself today."

"Oh fine… and… hum… Ruki-chan?" Ichigo asked with a kicked and abandoned puppy tone and grabbed her arm, pulling from it slightly.

"Don't call me Ruki-chan… and don't do that, you look stupid… what do you want?!"

"Are you sure we can't bleach Renji and tell Kenpachi we found Yachiru's mother?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You look stunning…" Ishida whispered, mostly to himself, but the orange headed girl managed to listen.

"T-thank you… you look great too!" She said, twisting a lock of hair that had fallen onto her face. Ishida smiled shyly, and removed the lock from her hand and face, placing it carefully behind her ear.

The Quincy's smile faded slowly when she turned around to talk to Rukia, who had just come back, as some weird memories came back to him. It had been awkward back on Las Noches tower.

Orihime had requested him something he would have never done, especially since his mission was to keep her safe. Yet the boy did as she asked. She took her there, to watch the two men she had come to love the most in recent times kill each other, slowly and painfully. When Ichigo was killed for who knows how many times already, he regretted taking Inoue over the dome. But he couldn't escape the fourth Espada, so he fought him, losing a hand. Orihime had been watching, and worry had filled her eyes. She wanted him to stop but he couldn't. Then the other awoke from the death. Again.

Ichigo's reiatsu had gone crazy, so he ran to protect her even if it was with his only remaining hand. Inoue was scared. Her eyes were filled in pain, sorrow and fear. The girl was clinging to his robes so badly he thought they might be tore, but they didn't. He managed to embrace he to shelter her with his own body after the Hollow-like Shinigami fired an enormous cero. Inoue was scared, and it pained Ishida to see her like that. Every inch in her tiny body trembled in fear. And Ishida was helpless. He watched how the Espada managed not to die from that ridiculous blow, and how Kurosaki was about to kill him mercilessly in an inhuman way; even if he was out of his mind, Ishida wasn't going to let him do it… because he didn't know who would he attack next, and if that one was the girl he was supposed to shelter, he wouldn't know what to do. He tried to stop him, and he was stabbed in the abdomen in reward. He fell to his knees, and he heard Inoue's voice screaming his name desperately. After that, incredibly, it was the Espada who saved the Quincy. After some disgraceful events Ishida wasn't willing to remember, he did remind how Orihime had healed him, for the first time ever. She had tears in her eyes, and Ichigo had disappeared after he heard an desperate scream from Rukia, followed by Renji's Zanpakuto clashing and possibly breaking, just as Orihime had finished to heal his injuries, and he didn't come back until later carrying Rukia on his arms, along with the other two that had been left behind and several other bunch of Shinigami, which were ready to leave directly to the human world to finish the battle against Aizen. But during those stressing minutes, they were together, completely alone.

He had grabbed her hand and caressed it with a thumb, and she managed to force a smile up to her face.

"_Don't worry, Inoue-san… it's already over…"_

"_Thanks, Ishida-kun…"_

A warm tear rolled down her cheek and fell onto Ishida's face, who managed to wipe it with his restored hand.

"_Don't cry…"_

"_Ishida-kun… I'm scared…"_

Ishida opened his eyes wide. He'd never imagined to hear Inoue saying that out loud, her hands trembling as she healed him. The only thing he knew was he never wanted to see her in that state again.

"_I don't know what he might do next…"_ She muttered. _"I really love him, Ishida-kun. But I fear him."_ Ishida felt like some kind of Hollow was also living inside him, unable to come to the surface and fight Kurosaki for making her cry that way, and instead of doing so it was roaming in his insides, trying to devour his heart, shattering and breaking it, smashing and making it bleed before eating it. It was so painful to hear Orihime saying that… he was incredibly angry at Kurosaki, but he wasn't sure if it was for the fact he made her cry like that. He just didn't know exactly why.

"_I don't want him to hurt you…"_ She whispered, and the Quincy felt her reiatsu fall a little, as her long locks of orange hair fell over her face. _"Not you, not anybody else… but especially you."_ Ishida was wordless and he didn't had any idea, not even a single one of what to say to calm her down_. "I don't want him to hurt any of my friends. I don't want him to ever lay a finger on you. He already snapped somebody I came to… somebody I… but…" _Orihime's sobbing was making it harder for Uryu to understand, but he nodded, grabbing her hand tighter and squeezing it a little. _"…but not you."_

"_Inoue-san… it's fine."_ He managed to choke a bit embarrassed, but he smiled. _"I'll not let him hurt anybody. And you don't have to fear him. He did it to protect you. Thing I couldn't do."_

She finished healing him and made the Shun-Shun Rika go back to their original position.

"_May I ask you something?"_

"_Y-yes…"_

"_You really fear Kurosaki even more than the Arrancar?"_

"_I wasn't scared of him…"_ Orihime sighed, helping the Quincy to stand up _"I never was."_

Her words rumbled in his head for a while, until somebody make him break from his thoughts.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you, Ishida-san…" a voice he had grown used told him. Ishida turned around to see Akon standing behind him, escorting Nemu and Rin, as well as a man who he didn't know. The man had spiky blue hair that reached his shoulders, and glittering, shiny yellow eyes that held a cold expression. He witnessed Urahara and a smirk spread though his face, then he walked towards the elder Shinigami and established a conversation with him.

"Oh, Akon-san! You arrived!"

"Yeah… seriously, what are you drinking?"

"Uhmm… water Renji and I just brought, I gave some to my friend back there…"

"The orange haired one?"

"Yes, why?"

"Better remove her drink from her, Kurotsuchi taichou managed to either poison or put some strong alcohol-like substance that will get you drunk in no time…"

"How do you know?"

"He came, just after you left the house, but he had left those things on Urahara-san's shop. What for, I guess as a Belated-Christmas gift for Soifon-taichou…"

Ishida ran towards Inoue, and with no explanation, he removed the cup from her hands before it touched her lips. Ishida ran and spilled the bottle on the bathroom as well as both his and Inoue's cups. He sighed, and Akon caught up with him.

"So… where's Kurotsuchi-taichou?" Ishida asked, raising both of his eyebrows.

"You just saw him, don't you?"

"W-what? Who…? Was it him?!" He said, poking his head out of the bathroom watching the blue haired man talking to Urahara, and how Nemu walked towards him with a cup of red wine, which the man drank after shoving his daughter away. "He looks so different!!!"

"I know. It's because Urahara told him that he couldn't use the scary make up and the long-ass fingernail, as well as the creepy outfit." Akon stated, sighing. "So he had to use a normal Gigai that at least fitted his liking."

"Hold on a second… why is everybody coming to this party?! Leaving Soul Society completely unprotected and… something might happen!"

"Soutaichou is still inside there… and not only that, but that window-like things on the corners, besides the pillars, on the stone walls are Senkaimon doors. Don't worry, if anything happens, we all run into there and problem solved."

Ishida sighed, nodding.

"Is there anything else poisoned or modified on this room, Akon-san? Because I fear he'll get killed by some angry fukutaichou group if he did something to the booze."

"As long as my smell sense and reiatsu perception let me know, just the thing you were about to drink is poisoned."

"Sense of smell?"

"Do you think the horns are the only thing he has done to me? You seriously have no idea, and I highly recommend you, Ishida-san, if you die and become a Shinigami, never go t the twelfth division… never."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It had started to get crowded out of nowhere. Ichigo wondered if there were already people to come, so he went to talk to Rangiku, who was the later to arrive, but surely knew already if anybody was missing.

"Hey, Rangiku-san!" He screamed, making his way across the dance floor, where Matsumoto was dancing with Renji, who let go of her a bit ashamed after finding Ichigo's mocking gaze.

"Oh, Hi, Ichigo!" She screamed, pulling Renji from his sleeve.

"Having fun?"

"Of course! You guys really know how to throw a party and you're not even legally allowed to drink!!" Matsumoto tripped with her heels and hung from Renji's neck, then she giggled.

"Has she started to drink already, Renji?"

"No, Urahara-san and Yoruichi have a Kido spell around the booze table so nobody touches it until midnight's toast… that's the reason she's freaking out, she needs it for her vital functions to work."

"Shut up, Abarai!! Or you'll be dancing with the broomstick!"

Ichigo laughed, because he remembered the time Cloud changed his Zabimaru for a broomstick and Renji was about to fight with it.

"No, Ran-san…" he muttered.

Ichigo laughed again, and then he turned to face Matsumoto again.

"Do you know anyone who's missing?"

"Let me see… squad 11 family is here, as well as 12th. You guys, my crew… where the hell did Taichou go?" she muttered, since Toushiro seemed to have disappeared. "Uhmm... I heard Kira, Hisagi, Iba and Komamura-taichou were on their way here, and Ukitake Taichou had a little down back at home, so they might arrive a little late..."

"Is he all right?"

"Yes… he's feeling down because it seems Unohana Taichou finally cured his decease, but it has weakened him a lot."

"Oh, that's good! I hope he gets better soon!"

"Yeah, me too! I'm so happy, he hadn't enjoyed the last century because of it, I'm glad he's finally out of it."

"May I ask… why is it his treatment took so long? I mean, Tuberculosis can be cured on humans in a short time if noticed."

"Well, there are two flaws there: nobody noticed until he started to fail at his captain's labor. And also, Shinigami always have things worse. If you suddenly get a flu, being human helps you to eradicate the virus, but being a Shinigami doubles the problem, since your reiatsu it's what gives you your powers, and viruses in Shinigami affect the spirit, because there's no existing body. So, it weakens you horribly, and it can take even a month to cure a simple flu. That's why we're healthy people."

"You dare to say that when you get intoxicated in booze every Saturday night, Rangiku-san?" Ichigo asked, raising both of his eyebrows.

"Yes, I dare to say that… and I must tell you, being a Shinigami gives you the worst hangovers the morning after…" she poked Ichigo's nose with one thin and large finger. "So, don't drink, Ichigo, 'cuz we still don't know what are you exactly."


	8. Careless Whispers

_**A/N:** LONG CHAPTER IS LOOOOOONG!!!! Oh,my, and I still have a lot to go, I just have to rbing those things together. Well, I f Bleach was mine (Which sadly it's not TwT) things would have happened as Gin explains later. That's the main reason of the small OCCness that I'm trying to reduce to a minimum. _

_Songs that can quite work while reading, I recommend you Careless Whisper by George Michael (original) or by Seether (cover, I like this one best)**;** Somethin' Stupid, I prefer Robbie WIlliams and Nicole Kitman's cover than Frank & Nancy Sinatra, but both are good. And also, the song Alleine Zu Zweit from Lacrimosa, it was an alternative title to this because of the Lyrics that fit the GinRan bit, but the 'silver screen' mentioned on Careless Whisper makes me thing of Ichimaru._

A little question, mostly to Yaoi fans and people who don't mind much boyxboy relationship: I really don't like fics where everybody turns out to be gay... but would you mind a bit of ByaRen on next chapters? I mean, I already have IkkaYumi (which scared the hell out of me with episode 229 from last week... that one made me thing that chapter 5 might actually happen at any time XDD and Ikkaku looked good with that wig XD), hints of a soon to be developed ShuuIzu, and a smaaaaall, small bit of KomaTousen upcoming, so having a fourth one might be weird. Oh, well, the good thing it's Renji will be allowed to get his hands full of liquor and Yachiru is going to push a bottle onto Byakushi's mouth... so it might be just a drunk kiss or something xD_  
_

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Careless Whispers**

"_As the music dies… _

_Something in your eyes, _

_Calls to mind a silver screen,  
And all those sad goodbyes"_

"Why?!" Ichigo screamed at Urahara, who stopped dancing with Yoruichi at the sight of the furious Kurosaki. "WHY IS IT THEY'VE BEEN PLAYING SLOW, BORING SONGS SINCE THE BEGINNING?! DO SOMETHING!!!"

Urahara sighed, smiling widely.

"Kurosaki-san… how old are you?"

"Sixteen… why the question?"

"Yes… and how old are the remaining 50 people in this room? Some of us who are way much more older than you, and that includes your girlfriend, enjoy this music. It brings us back some memories…"

Ichigo was about to speak when he heard Rukia's grunt, so he turned around.

"Are you going to dance with me, or not?"

"Rukia, this is so boring!!"

"Ah… Ichigo, please…" Rukia frowned, starring at his honey brown eyes. There was something in those clear eyes that told the petite girl he was telling her a big, fat lie. "What's it?"

"What?"

"You don't consider this boring… what's wrong?"

Ichigo frowned deeper, starring at her.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not! I know you!!"

"No, you don't!"

He turned around, with his nose up high. Rukia smirked.

"You little…" She climbed up to his neck and started to do a wrestling-like lock to make him fall.

"Stop it, Rukia!!" He choked, moving frenetically to make her fall off his back.

"Noooo, until you tell me what the hell is wroooong!!"

"Rukia, you're killing me!!" Ichigo choked.

"No, you can't die. Several Arrancar, Captains, Renji, Ishida and Nii-sama have already tried. You're not killing material."

"Lemme goooooo!"

The Kuchiki woman was hanging now from his necktie, so Ichigo placed his hands on her waist and pulled her away with all his might, making her to almost fall to the ground, but he caught her just on time.

"Don't do that… ever again." He said massaging his neck, which was reddened and a little swollen.

"Then tell me!"

"Fine…" He breathed out, lowering his head. " I don't know how to dance with you…"

"Uh?"

"These songs are not from my time. I go to raves, Rukia, not to dance ceremonies with her majesty!!"

Rukia stared at him and then she started to laugh like a madman. Ichigo felt a large sweat drop rolling down his forehead as his girlfriend twitched of laughter on the floor. Even Rangiku and Renji who were passing by, stopped to witness her struggle whether to cry or laugh at him.

"It's not funny…" Ichigo muttered when she was about to stop, but then she started to laugh again.

"N-no, of course it's not… I'm laughing because you're an idiot!!!"

Ichigo, who was still holding her wrist so she wouldn't fall, let go of her and Rukia fell to the floor, and then she stopped laughing.

"You're the idiot!"

"Say that again and I'm giving Renji another chance, Kurosaki…" Rukia hissed, and after that Ichigo helped her up again, with a kicked puppy look in his eyes again.

Rukia smiled, hugging him after standing on the tip of her toes and ruffling his hair with one hand.

"Yeah… you're the greatest idiot I've ever met…" She said, dragging him towards the dance floor and stopping right in the middle.

"No, please… I suck at learning…"

"You dare to say that when you learned Bankai in 3 days?! 3 DAYS?! Asides from that, who cares if these are no songs of your time, silly?! Look at Inoue!!"

Ichigo turned around trying to find the orange headed girl, and when he did, she noticed her and Ishida doing something that Ichigo was sure it was all her idea, as it resembled strongly a chicken running being chased by a farmer. He contained the laugh, especially because Ishida was avoiding to do the same, attempting to calm Orihime down and find out how the hell to do a proper ballroom dance.

"Rukia, but she has… well, who knows…" Ichigo turned to find her again, this time, Ishida had caught her and he had convinced her to stop cackling like a madman on the run. The substitute Shinigami smiled, as he looked how Orihime nodded and grabbed Ishida's shoulder and hand, and they started to dance following Urahara and Yoruichi, which were just right beside them by the time.

"She seems to enjoy it better like this. She has some princess-like attitude whenever she wants, and I'm sorry to tell you, you lack of it."

"LACK OF IT?! Come here you…!!" She muttered, and started to drag him again.

"Rukiaaaa…" he groaned, making her chuckle.

"It's easy." She placed one of his hands on her waist and took the other. "Loosen up, it'd be harder if you are standing there like Renji's broomstick."

Ichigo laughed briefly and did as she said.

"Now… put your left foot in front." He did as she said and Rukia backed her right one. "The move it back. The same foot to the right. Your right foot to the left. Right foot backwards… YOUR OTHER RIGHT FOOT, IDIOT!" She screamed, stepping accidentally on his foot. Ichigo laughed, and Rukia did the same.

"I told you I suck at this…"

"No, we're only beginning… let's go again." They repeated the same process twice, with more eagerness than before. "Now, make me spin once…" Ichigo tried to make her spin to the right, passing his arms above her head, but Rukia turned to the left, and she got somewhat stuck in between. "To the other side, you enormous… yeah… you suck at dancing."

"I warned you…"

"You're really an idiot…" She said, hugging him and nudging her nose against his. "But I'd never change anything of you."

Ichigo smiled and kissed her again, and then he noticed how Rukia was hanging from his neck, since he was, still, several centimeters taller than her. He laughed against her lips at the sight.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"My god, you arrived soooo late!!!" Matsumoto scolded them, letting both Izuru and Shuuhei in. "And where's Komamura-taichou and Iba-san?!"

"Ah, they are still at Arizawa-san's home." Izuru muttered, placing a hand over his trimmed fringe, sighing.

"What the hell are they doing?! They're not gonna make it to the midnight toast!!!"

"I blame your captain."

"Hitsugaya-Taichou?"

"Yup." Hisagi continued, loosening the tie that was around his neck. "He came on the early morning, because it seems you and your people were mocking him and he said something about 'Momo's dress'." Matsumoto giggled at this, to what Hisagi smiled and kept up. "So, he went to talk to Komamura; I never knew Hitsugaya-Taichou and Komamura-taichou had such a good relationship."

Matsumoto laughed again.

"It's because of Koma-Taichou's dog, Goro." She smiled widely, trying to see if Toushiro was around, but it seemed he was hiding from Hinamori inside the bathroom. "You shall already know his weird mannerisms of behaving like an adult and act like a little kid when nobody's looking. The fact is, he adores dogs, and constantly goes and gives Goro a walk." Matsumoto giggled again, and Hisagi coughed.

"Well… the point is your Taichou came and they started to talk… now that I remember, they did mention something about Goro, and Komamura Taichou just said that he couldn't bring the dog with him… but whatever, the conversation suddenly changed. They talked about places in Karakura, since it seemed Komamura taichou knew little about the city but Hitsugaya-taichou had come here several times. After some time, he remembered one place and smirked, and started to talk about a spot on the road that leads outside the town, which has an amazing view that quite reminded him of the Seireitei views from the mountains, so after Hitsugaya-taichou left, Komamura went there and Iba caught up with him. They arrived home when we were about to leave, so they said they'd come a little bit later. I mean, it's Iba-san, it can't take that long to him…"

"I'm listening, Hisagi…" a rough voice he knew so well groaned behind the group. The brunette turned around, and found Iba along with the dog-like Shinigami.

"See? I told you it wouldn't take him long!"

Iba sighed and walked by, not looking into neither Renji, nor Matsumoto, and much more less into Hisagi and Kira, who had annoyed him to the core the whole three days. Komamura, on the other hand, stuck to Hisagi's ankles.

"Hey, Taichou." Hisagi said, leaning down to face the dog. "You think this is all right? I mean, are you feeling comfortable in the Gigai? We can ask Urahara-san to give you an human Gigai, just for today…"

"No, it's fine." Komamura said, moving one fluffy ear to the side and sighing. "But I quite feel small, in comparison to what it feels like to be in Soul Society."

Hisagi laughed, he had a point there. Usually he had to look up to glance into Sajin's golden eyes, but tonight was different. And Shuuhei was enjoying it, to his demise.

"Izuru…" Shuuhei muttered, dragging the blonde's arm and pulling him out of Rangiku and Renji's reach. "You heard? Hitsugaya is hiding on the bathroom! Go and use your gentleman charms on Hinamori!!"

"You have to be kidding me…"

"No! go and tell her!" she's all alone, sitting there, waiting for him!!! ALONE."

"If he comes out and sees us…" A frozen dragon's roar growled inside's Izuru's mind, who shivered and shook his head violently. "I'm not that stupid."

"I'll go and get Rangiku for myself."

"She's with Renji, you can't do that!"

"Yup… she's with Renji, BUT there's a certain person Renji would leave Rangiku for." Hisagi smirked playfully, which made Izuru shiver again.

"Is it who I have in mind?"

"I think it is, Izuru."

"Don't do it, Senpai… he's gonna kill us!"

"Renji or…"

"Of course not. Kuchiki-Taichou!"

"You know, when I come to think we might have spent too much time together we're actually starting to think somewhat similar, I can't sleep at night, Izuru."

The blonde gulped, and sighed.

"How are you planning to make Kuchiki-Taichou to entertain him?"

"It's easy… come with me."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Kurosaki Ichigo." A dark voice called his name, which made him shiver. "Where's Rukia?"

"In the bathroom." He grumbled peevishly.

"Why are you angry? Did you break up?"

"No." Ichigo had a pested smile on the face when he saw Rukia coming towards them. "It's just she tried to show me how to dance and I failed."

"You don't know how to dance?"

"No. well, not this kind of music, it's not from my era, if you know what…"

"You're going to be adopted into the Kuchiki family if you marry Rukia and I don't marry again to have any kids, Kurosaki Ichigo." He hissed, standing up, making Rukia stop on her track. "It's indispensable for you to know how to dance."

"B-but… who said we're gonna marry?! I'm sixteen!!"

"Shinigami don't have age."

"I'M STILL HUMAN!"

"That can be helped." Ichigo was sure there was a pinkish silver flash sparkling on Byakuya's waist, just at the level of where his belt was hidden beneath his white coat.

"Sorry, Nii-sama!" Rukia interrupted, dragging Ichigo again. "He's un-killable, remember?"

Byakuya frowned as Rukia dragged him out of his sight.

The Kuchiki man sat down again, inspecting the large cup of wine Urahara had given him. Then he felt two high reiatsu approaching to him.

"Kira, Hisagi." He greeted, not looking into the two vice-captains, but he managed to notice Hisagi was smirking, and that Kira had an apathetic and pessimist look on his eyes… Byakuya also noticed about his hair, but his cold, stoic expression didn't flinch.

"Kuchiki-Taichou." Shuuhei bowed at him, and pulled from Izuru's necktie so he'd do the same.

"Is there anything you'd like to attend with me?"

"Uhmm, yes, actually…" Hisagi started and his smirk grew. "I was asking myself why is it Abarai-fukutaichou is not here with you to do as you please…"

"What do you mean?" Byakuya asked, a bit intrigued into what Hisagi was saying. His smile softened, and he continued.

"It seems you don't know, but even here, vice-captains are supposed to look over their captains needs. Look, for example: Omaeda is working as Soifon-Taichou's personal waiter. Isane is assisting Unohana-Taichou's drinking and food needs. Iba-san accompanies Komamura-taichou wherever he goes, so he'd not suffer an accident… well, Rangiku-san lost sight of Hitsugaya-Taichou, but seemingly he wanted to get rid of her, so she's enjoying herself. Yachiru is still with Zaraki-taichou, as always… and I really prefer not to know where are Ikkaku and Yumichika" Hisagi muttered those last words to himself, but Byakuya listened and raised both of his eyebrows. "Nemu is serving Kurotsuchi-taichou, and finally both third seats of the third division are helping Ukitake-taichou with his needs, now that he's out of the illness."

"What about Ise-fukutaichou, Hinamori and you two?" Byakuya asked, a bit of interest in his tone.

"Well…" Kira seemed to understand Hisagi's plans, so he decided to help. "Hinamori-kun, Hisagi-Senpai and I are still captain-less, so we just keep helping the others. And Ise san is helping Kyouraku Taichou as well, but… their relationship is a bit more intimate than most of the others, so it's fine like that…"

Byakuya sighed, convinced that what they were saying was truth. He had never actually liked those two much, but one thing he was sure, at least Kira was honest most of the time. On the other hand, his friend was not. It amazed him how could those two hang out together when one was kinda submissive and a pushover, while the other was pushy and manipulative. Byakuya then reminded how his friendship with Ichimaru worked: never ask the other for reasons, just let it be. Sadly enough, his relationship was not far from different from theirs.

"Would you like us to bring him here? You seem lonely, Kuchiki-taichou." Hisagi muttered.

"Yeah, bring him here…" Byakuya responded idly, watching his sister with the strawberry Shinigami trying to dance the now played swing. Byakuya smiled… Kurosaki Ichigo was fun to watch when embarrassed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You're such an idiot, Senpai!"

"Yeah, but you still adore me, anyways, Izuru."

"Shut up… how can you seriously do this to Abarai-kun?!"

"Because he's dancing with my woman."

"Rangiku-san is not your… does she even know about your crush on her?"

Hisagi stared blankly at him, stopping after reaching Matsumoto and Renji.

"Izuru… I'm going to kick your ass soooo bad you're going to beg for mercy."

"Just try it." Kira hissed, frowning and stepping in front of Hisagi.

"You're just scared, little 'Zuru…" Hisagi whispered softly leaning closer to Kira to intimidate him. "You're so fucking scared of Hitsugaya you'd never come remotely nearby to his little peach."

"Stop threatening me, Hisagi."

"Oh, where's the honorific? You forgot your modals."

"Fine. Do whatever you want. But if Renji wants to kill you later, I'm gonna help him, you ungrateful bastard. And I hope Rangiku-san dumps you."

Hisagi laughed as he watched his kouhai rumbling towards Hinamori, sulking.

"YEAH, GO FOR IT, YOU USELESS EMO!!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Renji wasn't happy. That punk had stolen his 'date'. And he showed no regret or guilt. But what could he do, if his superior was calling for him. Even Byakuya had been completely played off by Hisagi's manipulations!

"Were you looking for me, Kuchiki-taichou?"

"Yeah… is it true what Hisagi said?"

"No… but it seems he used it as advantages all the other fukutaichou are serving, somehow, their captains." Renji sighed. "Anyway, in sight I'm already here… do you need anything?"

"No, go back, have fun." He said coldly, running a finger in circles on the top of the cups, making a screeching sound.

"There's no use… do you mind if I stay?"

"No." He said, and Renji sat in front of him. "What's your problem?"

"Hisagi! That's my problem!"

"What did he do…? Oh, he stole your date…" Byakuya muttered, as he turned around to find the brunette dancing happily with Matsumoto, but Byakuya didn't seem to care in the most minimum.

Then again, Byakuya raised one eyebrow and sipped from the red wine. He had it right, Hisagi was manipulating the situation so it'd look like he wanted, and Kira, having that strong bond, relationship, admiration or whatever it was that Byakuya didn't mind at all, helped him. And Renji had been their victim. The Kuchiki man would have laughed if it weren't his Lieutenant the one who had his partner stolen.

"Anyway, that idiot told me you were a bit lonely…" Renji said, playing with an abandoned fork on the table. "So, in fact we're both alone, I'll stay, if you don't complain."

"No, it's fine."

"I feel Rangiku-san is going to nominee me to the 'Bachelor of the Night' thing… again." Renji muttered, and Byakuya, who managed to listen, smiled.

"It's a shame they're quite afraid of me."

"Taichou?"

"Yeah… if they weren't, they'd make fun of the 'Widower of the century' or something."

"Oh, taichou, don't say that! You'll see! Someday we'll find…"

"Don't even say it." He said coldly, but Renji was already used to his demeanor, he just blinked twice. "Even if there's somebody there, I don't want to find anybody anymore."

"Oh… I'm sorry to…"

"No, you didn't know, anyway." Byakuya drank again, and for first time on the whole day, he seriously paid attention to his interlocutor's face. "But the point is, after Hisana, I think I'll never be able to fall in love with another woman again."

Renji showed a soft smile on his face, and he moved a long lock of red hair from his face, which had gone loose from the large ponytail he had tied his mane into. He glanced into Matsumoto, as her fiery red dress swirled around her perfect body as the tattooed Shinigami made her spin and guided her. She looked so happy, and Renji, on the other hand was getting even grumpier to watch her like that.

"Renji… do you have strong feelings for Matsumoto-fukutaichou?"

"W-what?! No! well, she's like a sister to many of us, but…! No! It's just Hisagi makes me angry! He has the most ridiculous and painfully obvious crush on her and I know she knows about it, but it's unrequited! Why don't he understand it and leaves her alone already?!"

"Well… have you ever fallen in love?"

"Uhmm… I think, why?"

"When it happens, you won't let go of the things so easily. That's why I know you never loved Rukia more than as a sister. You'd still try to kill Kurosaki Ichigo and attempt to make him break up with her."

"Heh… you knew all this long I liked Rukia?"

"It was painfully obvious, as you say."

"Ah, gimme a break! And by the way, what you just said, about trying to kill Ichigo and making them break up sounds somehow to what you're…" Renji starred with disbelief at Byakuya, who had started to feel uneasy. "Oh, my god! You just…? tell me you didn't, Taichou!!"

"Look, it might sound weird, but what I felt for her was because of her physical appearance. She's nothing like Hisana. But I still love her, maybe I have already accepted the fact she's, indeed, my little sister now, and she can't be anything else. She's not Hisana. Still, that doesn't keep away the fact I want to tear apart limb by limb the man who's trying to take her away from me. Even as a sister, she's the only living woman I really care about… and don't say anything about Yachiru, Renji, or I'm going to replace you by Rikichi if you do."

Renji laughed… _Hold on… he's attempting on his humor sense again!!!_

"Well then…" Renji raised a half empty cup he and Matsumoto had been able to convince Urahara to lend them before the midnight toast. "Let's cheer, Taichou! For the Bachelor and Widower of the Year!"

Byakuya smile warmed up a little, thanking in his mind Renji was able to understand how he felt, even if he still thought Renji was a brute with a stick while working.

"Yes, why not? For us."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ishida wondered why his life had suddenly become a living hell. Orihime was the worst dancing partner ever, but she was so cute and so sloppy he couldn't help himself but accept the flames that were tearing his flesh apart were nothing more than her soft hands placed over his shoulder and forearm, in her bad attempt to dance swing. Being in hell felt like paradise to him, if he considered the idea.

"Inoue-san…" He said after making her spin and kept dancing with her. "Aren't you tired?"

"No, not at all! And I think we're getting better, Ishida-kun! We will arrive to the Salsa learning how to swing!" She said cheerfully, eavesdropping on Yoruichi and Urahara who danced pretty well…

After another bad attempt of imitating them, the tone of the song changed to a slow ballad that Ishida had heard somewhere, possibly either from his grandfather or even Ryuuken. It was called 'Somethin' stupid', and he then remembered it was Frank Sinatra's song… as the lyrics of the song came to mind as the man started to sing, Ishida went pale.

"What's wrong, Ishida-kun? You don't want to dance anymore?"

"N-no! I was remembering about… never mind…"

"Heh… don't worry, I know how to dance ballads…" She said shyly, and they leaned a little closer. One of his arms, nervously, slipped around her waist and the other on her back, while both of her elbows rested on his shoulders. They were closer than they had ever been, but it actually felt nice to dance like they knew, not trying to copy anybody around or improving on it.

"…_I love you…"_ He heard her mutter softly, and gulped, but then he noticed she was singing. He sighed, smiling.

"You like the song?"

"One of my favorites." She said, smiling.

"_The time is right"_ He sang, making Inoue to smile.  
_"Your perfume fills my head"_ She continued, resting her nose on the crook of his neck.  
_"The stars get red"_ He caressed her hair with one hand.  
_"And oh, the night's so blue"_ Her arms slipped down, and her fingers jointed on his neck, as she rose her head, and they were now just two inches away from each other  
_"And then I go and spoil it all"_ Uryu said, in a sigh, closing his eyes.  
_"By saying somethin' stupid like I love you"_ both of them sang at the same time, as Inoue closed her eyes as well and tilted her head to the side. But then she realized what the hell she was doing and she leaned back, her face completely red, which made her orange hair look even brighter.

The part they had just sang repeated itself once more after a music bridge, and they kept dancing, mostly idly, but still really close to each other.

Orihime opened her eyes wide, as well as the Quincy did.

"I… I'm so.. I don't k…" Orihime blabbered, but she was completely lost of words. She felt her chest was burning, like if somebody had started an oven inside of it and were preparing a heart-shaped cake inside of it. Everything in her was burning, and she didn't know what was it. It was something similar to what she had felt the day she had to leave the human realm and go to Hueco Mundo, as she almost kissed Ichigo's lips.. but for some odd reason, Ishida's hand felt much more warmer than Ichigo's, and only placing aside the fact that night she was dying inside, this feeling was one hundred times better… "Ishida-kun…" she muttered, without removing her gaze from his. "I…"

"_And then I go and say something stupid like I love you…"_ hearing that part of the lyrics, Orihime stopped. Why spoil it? It was really great like that! She really loved him, and she had been really retarded to notice. But she knew it now, and she wanted to spend her days like this forever…

"I love you." Ishida said, cupping her face. Orihime would have thought he was singing as the music faded, because he had said those three words so softly and kindly it didn't seem real at all, but the fact he had cupped her face and placed his lips over hers had to mean something. Inoue wasn't a genius, but she wasn't THAT thick. Orihime smiled against his lips, and stood on her toes so she'd crush her body closer to his. The Quincy squeezed her on his arms, as she opened her mouth to let his tongue inside. They stayed like that for a while, until she broke the kiss to breathe. Both of them had a wide smile on their faces, but Orihime seemed happier. And he couldn't blame her, really. It had been good. It had been unexpected, but good.

He hugged her and Orihime buried her face on his neck, trailing little kisses on it. They didn't need words anymore…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"See? I told you Frank Sinatra would work!!" Tatsuki said, slapping Ichigo on the forehead.

"I can't believe you were right!!" Ichigo said, frowning. "You're damn good, Tatsuki!"

"Well, I know Orihime, and I just had look guessing Ishida would like classics."

"Heh, they look nice together." He admitted, smiling. "Now we can go on a double date… or triple, if you get a guy, Tatsuki…"

"Nah, I don't want to… not yet."

"Well… there's a guuuuuy who…"

"Don't say Chad."

"OH COME ONE! He needs a girl!"

"But not me. He likes cute things…"

"You're cute."

"You dare to say that in front of your girlfriend?!"

"Oh… yeah, she's still here… Rukia are you all right?"

"Y-yes… it's just I'm a bit… shocked."

"Too much commotion?!"

"Well, yeah… that and the fact I felt a faint but familiar reiatsu…"

"Uhmm… Reiatsu, in a room filled with Shinigami? I wonder why…"

"No, idiot… a familiar but unpleasant reiatsu…"

"Well, Kurotsuchi is here, you can guess…"

"No, idiot! I felt… Ichimaru's reiatsu." Rukia focused on the spot she felt it, and placed her hand on her waist, where Shirayuki was hiding within her clothing.

"Leave it, it's no fun. He was executed as well as the other two…"

"No joking, Ichigo… his reiatsu is quite singular… he has a disturbing aura, like if he wanted to strangle you, crawling over your neck like a constrictor…"

"Don't talk like if he's alive, Rukia…"

"You felt it too, Rukia?" Byakuya's voice interrupted, stepping between Tatsuki and Ichigo. He had also grabbed the hilt of Senbonzakura, and both of them watched the metal door impatiently. And it seemed they were not the only ones, Matsumoto, Kira, Hisagi, Hinamori and Renji had approached as well. Ichigo guessed it was because many of them were familiar to his reiatsu reacted… but he didn't understood about Komamura, who had also stood up from his table, and seemingly he had already left his Gigai behind.

"It can't be!" Byakuya said, rushing onto the door. "What are they…?" it seemed they had called off all the attention, because of the fact he had already unsheathed his sword and walked towards the gates of the room. Even the music had stopped, and there was an unpleasant silence around the room.

"I thought they had been…" Kira muttered, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"They were." Renji stated, placing a hand over his friend's shoulder. "But it seems somebody saved them… where's Urahara-san?"

"Saving them." Soifon said, poison filling each one of her words.

"And where's Yoruichi-san, anyway?" Orihime asked, who had just listened what was happening.

"Saving them." Renji answered, turning around to see Soifon's disgusted face.

The door creaked open and Ichigo listened several metal clinking around him. He turned around, to see everyone had brought their Zanpakuto with them… it was easy for everybody else; if their swords were as tall as themselves, everybody would be as defenseless as Ichigo.

"Hey, guys…" Urahara said, popping his head a little. "Why so tense in here?" He said, entering completely.

Some lowered they guards, but many did not.

"Urahara-san… what are they doing here?" Matsumoto hissed, looking at the darkness that engulfed the entrance.

"Listen… they're not the enemy. They never were…" Urahara muttered, and Matsumoto chuckled. "I know you won't believe me, but trust me, they never willed to side on Aizen, they had no option." Urahara rushed his speech as he noticed Matsumoto's rage was growing.

"Believe him. He's telling the truth." Yoruichi said, glaring at several Shinigami (between them Soifon, who had already activated her Shikai).

Soifon lowered her sword, and returned it to a normal katana, sheathing it again. If her master said so, she'd obey, no matter what. Omaeda sheathed his as well, but no one else did.

"It's only those two? Aizen's not with them?" Unohana asked, coldly, looking worried at Hinamori, who hadn't realized it until the moment the fourth squad captain said so. The petite girl whimpered and clutched the hilt of her sword, then she gulped.

"No, he's not…" Hinamori relaxed her muscles, but she was still tense. Kira turned around worried, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. She managed to smile, but as soon as the blonde set his guard again, the gesture faded. Now she glanced at the three people in front of her: Hisagi, Kira and Matsumoto… it seemed those three weren't going to believe anything Urahara and Yoruichi would say to them, no matter what.

As the tension grew, several others sheathed their weapon as well, including Hinamori. At the sight of this, Toushiro glanced at Hyourinmaru.

"_You think it's right?" _he asked the sword on his mind, and he heard the cold voice of the ice dragon roaring in acceptance.

"_Follow your instincts, Toushiro."_ It roared, and Hitsugaya did a small nod, sheathing it.

"Matsumoto, put your sword down." He ordered, but Matsumoto didn't move. "Matsumoto!"

"I beg to differ, taichou."

"Matsumoto…" he muttered, a bit surprised. The seriousness on her voice was not usual when she contradicted his orders.

He knew what she had been through, but watching her this angry about it was scary. Hitsugaya would dare to say, even a little morbid… Ichimaru would be death if he dared to cross that door.

"Do as your captain says, girl." An elder's voice said, which made Rangiku turn around with a fierce frown on the face.

"Soutaichou!" She said, completely surprised. She sheathed her sword immediately and bowed at him. If he was here, either Tousen and Ichimaru were already death, or they were actually innocent. He wasn't inside a Gigai, but he didn't unleashed his sword.

"You two! Come inside!"

The door creaked again, and the two renegade Shinigami entered the room. Ichimaru was smiling as always, but he looked a bit uneasy, while Tousen was frowning at the silver haired man with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yama-san…" Ichimaru muttered, noticing the large figure between the other Shinigami. "I… I didn't expect ya 'ere…"

"Of course you didn't, Ichimaru. If you did you'd not have come at all. And as I can see, you dragged Tousen, he'd rather be at home than here."

"Uhmm.. yeah… he's 'ere b'cuz of me, I'm sorry."

"I told you not to show your faces in front of anybody from the Gotei 13 and you disobeyed, Ichimaru."

"I'm sorry! I really am! But I… I have somethin' to attend with one person! I don't know when will I might be able t' talk with that person, so please, let me stay!" Gin bowed at him, waiting for a response.

Yamamoto thought for a long while after responding, and the former 3rd squad captain hadn't raised his head yet.

"Is it who I think it is, and for the reasons I think they are?"

"Yes, Soutaichou." Gin said, without raising his head, and his smile was nowhere visible.

Matsumoto frown grew deeper, and she pressed her hand against Haineko's scabbard so badly she thought her fingers would start to bleed at any moment.

"Well then… you might stay until the Shinigami return to Sereitei, Ichimaru. And Tousen, since I'm giving this special permission to him, it is yours as well, but you must swear you're not showing your faces ever again."

"What for?" Hisagi muttered with hatred. "Not to kill them? We know already they're still breathing, they won't last long…" he sheathed Kazeshini and pushed Renji and Kira aside, walking towards the bathroom.

"Hisagi-san…" Kira said, trying to catch his hand, but the brunette shoved him. He was angry as well, but he had only seen Shuuhei this mad when Kanisawa got killed, more than half of a century ago.

"Leave him alone, Izuru… you have worst things to worry about…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

If somebody, whoever it was dared to step close to him right on that moment, Shuuhei wasn't sure if that person would either explode or set itself on fire. He was so angry he could kill Tousen with no remorse. Not only did he abandoned him, but he also defeated Shuuhei, not once, but two. On the third one he won. He thought Tousen was death, so he'd not have to carry the guilt of taking his life with his own blade.

Hisagi was raging out, as he reached the bathroom. He sighed reaching the sink, resting both of his hands on the edge of it. He watched his scarred face on the mirror, and frowned. He managed to control his rage so he'd not hit the mirror and shatter it completely. He passed three fingers, idly, across his face, where the scars the Hollow had left him could be found. Right on that moment, he wished it'd have killed him back then. He heard the music started to play again, but he didn't even notice he had left Rangiku alone. It was close to midnight, he knew it. It'd only be thirty more minutes till he could get his hands on that bottle of vodka and would drink of it like if there was no tomorrow. He'd forget he ever got to see his former captain again.

He let the water flow and washed his face, trying to calm down his anger. He placed both of his hands over his face to wipe the drops of water away, and then he rubbed his eyes with his palms. He took a tissue from a box and dried his face roughly, not caring about anything else. He wondered for how long he could stay inside the bathroom, but then he thought there might be somebody, namely Izuru or Renji, who would look after him after his rampage.

He groaned and walked out of the bathroom, noticing Hitsugaya ran inside to hide from Hinamori, but well… the brunette knew Kira would keep her busy. If he had luck, he might make out with someone, finally. He slapped himself mentally. Kira making out with somebody, especially Hinamori sounded so weird that it wasn't even funny. Izuru would faint before kissing Hinamori ever again…

He chuckled angrily, he could care less about Izuru and everybody else around. He just wanted alcohol so badly he'd even fight Urahara for it.

"Hey… Shuuhei." A calm voice he had grown to hate lately called his name.

The brunette turned around with a deadly glare on his eyes, to find the blind Shinigami searching for him.

"Leave me alone."

"I need to talk."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"No." he said, stubbornly, grabbing his former vice-captain's wrist. "Listen to me."

"What? What do you want to say now? You want to fill my head with more of your shit?!"

"I know you're angry at me. But you deserve an explanation."

"Go tell it to somebody who cares."

"I know you care. Please."

"Why me first? Why don't you go to Komamura first? He's even angrier at you, if he kills you I'd not be involved at all. Go away."

"Why you? As simple as it is, it's because you're actually angrier than him. He just told me 'go with Hisagi firsts. If Yamamoto-donno says you're innocent, I'll believe it. But you will have to work harder to win my trust back, as well as a forgiveness.' On the other hand, you can't take away your hand from the hilt of your katana. You're still calculating from which angle it'd be better to slice my head."

Shuuhei let go of Kazeshini, still doubtful. He glanced at his blind white eyes and sighed.

"I thought I knew you." Hisagi stepped closer to the smaller but older man, who did the same, as well. "But I was wrong. The Tousen I knew never existed."

"No, it did. I really cared… care for you." He corrected his sentence.

"Either way, after you left, I came to notice you knew everything about me, yet I knew nothing about you. All you told me, everything, each and every single word you said, I believed it all, just to be deceived. And here you are, months later after using not only me, but the whole Soul Society, saying you want to talk… you're unbelievable."

"You haven't change at all, Hisagi." Tousen muttered, placing a hand over his ex lieutenant shoulder. To his surprise, he didn't flinch or shoved him, he just lowered his head screwing his eyes with a painful smirk on his face. "Yet, don't say I knew everything about you. I haven't noticed some things until today."

"Yeah? Like?"

"It's better if you note them yourself. I'm sure not even you have noticed about them yet."

Shuuhei smirk grew wider. For some odd reason, his anger had evaporated and it was replaced by an awkward happiness that felt quite bitter. Somewhat it was like being depressed but extremely happy at the same time.

"It sounds like if you have never gone away, Taichou."

"I'm not your Taichou anymore, Shuuhei." Tousen said kindly, removing his hand from Hisagi's shoulder. "And by the way, when you notice what I was talking about, don't be as stupid as I was, and never let go of it."

Shuuhei smiled, nodding.

"But just so you know, Tousen-san…" he said, correcting his past error. "I haven't forgiven you yet."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Matsumoto…" his childish voice called, but she was too angry glaring at Gin who was still giving explanations to several people, between them, Kira. He was frowning and yelling at Gin at the top of his lungs, but he did nothing else than sulking. Renji had grabbed one of his arms so he would not hit anybody accidentally. But Rangiku was so angry to even listen to Kira's ranting. "MATSUMOTO!"

"What?!" She said, turning around violently to face her superior. "FOR GODDAMNED HEAVEN, WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU WANT!?"

Toushiro sweat-dropped. He had never seen his lieutenant so angry she'd even be disrespectful to him in such a violent and rough way.

"Listen, I know you've been through a lot, but please calm down, Matsumoto."

"CALM DOWN?! What the hell is that fox face bastard is doing here?! I'm not strangling him now because, one, Yamamoto told us not to do it, and two, because my long ass dress and stupidly high heels wouldn't be of much help!"

"Precisely for that reason, Matsumoto. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Aw… you really care!"

"And the sudden change of mood makes me think you're just jealous."

"JEALOUS?! ME?!" She screamed, frowning.

"Yes… somewhat, jealous that he's giving more attention to Kira than to you."

Matsumoto opened her eyes wide as well as her mouth like if she was about to say something, but no words came, she just kept doing strange gestures that almost made Toushiro laugh.

"I… Uhmm… how do you want me not to be jealous? I know Izuru has the right to complain but… but I lost his child. Me, not Kira! And he only came to ask him for forgiveness! How do you think…?"

"To Kira? Open your eyes, woman! He came here for you!" he said irritated as Matsumoto tilted her head. Hitsugaya sighed, and pointed back at Ichimaru, who was getting rid of Kira, who just glared daggers at him.

"I shall leave you alone… but if you need to kill him, don't doubt to call me at any time, Matsumoto." He said coldly, giving his back to her.

"Ooohhh… you're going to hide on the bathroom again, Taichou?"

"Shut up…"

She stood in there, glaring at the white haired boy walk away, as she managed to witness Shuuhei coming out and being caught by his former captain… this was going to be a long, long night.

"Rangiku…" Gin's voice said, and it almost sounded like if he was actually sorry.

She turned around to find the pale man standing in front of her. Her eyes started to water, but she repressed all her feelings inside her chest and frowned.

"You bastard… what are you doing here?"

"I wanted t' talk…"

"I don't want to talk. Why don't you just disappear, Ichimaru?! Go away…"

"I know what happened, Ran-chan…"

"Don't call me that. And how do you know?"

"Eavesdroppin' on conversations from other people…"

Matsumoto frown grew and she let a single tear roll down her cheek.

"Either way… even if you had known about it, you'd have gone anyway. You're an idiot."

"I know. But I had no other option."

"No other…? YOU FUCKING COWARD!!" She said and slapped his cheek with all her might. Gin's face remained still, and his smile was nowhere to be found. He even looked quite sad.

"If I could, I'd have never left ya." Gin regained his straight posture and leaned closer, but Rangiku backed away. "But I can't deny I'm a coward. I feared Aizen so much I couldn't go 'gainst him when it came to protect ya."

"Protect me? From what?"

"From myself. I was the greatest danger that was around ya, since the beginning."

"Since the beginning?! Gin… how much time have you been lying to me?!" her frown softened only to be replaced by a sadness fulfilled gesture.

"Yer willin' to listen to me, Rangiku?"

"I… I don't know… that would be like forgiving you."

"Then don't do it. Just listen."

A song both of them knew started to play, which made Rangiku's anger come back, and a faint smile appeared on Gin's face, but it was not his mocking gesture, but one filled with melancholy and one that looked quite nostalgic.

"Careless Whisper, uh? I remember that song." The smile disappeared, and then he frowned. "Now that I think so, that song is painfully fittin' for ya and I."

"Talk, Gin…"

"Would ya dance with me? Like in the old times… then I'll talk, I swear it."

He offered the woman a large, pale hand, and she glared first at his hand and then at him. He had no smile on his face, thing which made believe Rangiku everything he told her that night would be truth, but with him, you'd never know.

Matsumoto took his hand reluctantly and he leaded her to the center of the dance floor, and made her lean closer. She was a little stiff but Gin knew it was because Rangiku would never be able to trust him again… he was even sure she was planning of how to grab her sword if it was required at any moment to restrain him, just like she had done before he parted to Hueco Mundo.

"Speak." She ordered coldly onto his ear.

"Yama-san knew it all long. He knew Aizen's plotting, so he sent Tousen-san and I to do a little research. Obviously he noticed what we were intending, but in here, the phrase 'Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer' quite fits." He quoted, and he sighed. Matsumoto also noticed his accent had disappeared, maybe because he was trying to sound serious to her. "I had to gain his confidence since the beginning… I was placed onto this mission after I graduated, because I was promoted and placed on the 5th division. They ordered me to reach the third seat at any cost, so I had to kill the former one and reach as closer to Aizen as I could. Tousen had also been working for a while, I still don't know his mere reasons, but I can say they were somewhat related to his deceased friend. Anyway, Aizen always trusted me much more than he trusted Kaname."

"Why? What gave him any reason to trust you?" She asked, trying to sound as rough and cold as she could, but Gin noticed there was a bit of interest in her tone.

"Well, Tousen's blindness was the main point. Even if both of them had already reached Bankai, the fact that Kaname was unaffected by his Shikai was already a threat. He could go against him at any time, and I guess there must have been something he could do against his Bankai, I really never knew what was Tousen about… but oh, well, the fact was, Kaname was probably the only person able to bring all his plotting down, so Aizen had to keep both of us close."

"You're saying Tousen is actually stronger than Aizen? Who's the real threat here, anyway?"

"No. I'm saying he's unaffected by his strongest abilities, but let just say it like this: Aizen still had better Kido than both of us, but his blindness gave him a little, small and faint opportunity to defeat him. He'd not take any danger…"

"Then why didn't he kill him?"

"Heh… Rangiku, you'd actually destroy somebody who's stronger than you, the only person that can possibly bring you down when you can manipulate him and use him? You didn't know Aizen at all?"

"Well, no… he played a really good roll… the same you did."

"Can I ask you for a little favor, Rangiku?"

"What?"

"Would you mind to… ehmm… lower your killing intent and calm down your bloodlust? It's making me incredibly nervous…"

"No. I can't put my guard down when we're talking about you. You're a deflector, even after being proven innocent."

"So you believe what I said?"

"If what you're saying is true, then that means the boy that once saved my life really existed. That's more than enough to believe." She whispered with a deadly tone. "Yet, I can't forgive you, Gin. This might sound weird to you but… my mind tells me to destroy you, to hate you, to loathe you. But my heart tells me exactly the opposite. I want to, but my heart would never be able to hate you."

She looked up at him, who, for first time in many months, had opened his eyes. Crimson red buried into icy blue. A large trail of tears started to flow from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Ichimaru sighed, whipping her tears away.

"If I could, I'd stay with ya forever, Ran-chan…"

The strawberry blonde buried her tearful face on his jacket, contradicting herself and falling defenseless onto his arms.

"I want you to stay… when I gaze upon us (our relationship, I mean), something survived. There's still something here, Gin. I can feel it."

"I can feel it too. Maybe I can do somethin'… move to the Rukongai and ya can come…"

"Don't be silly. If Yamamoto finds you, you're death."

"Ya already thought I was death, Ran." He said, chuckling his words. "A second time wouldn't hurt."

"Yes, it would." Matsumoto embraced Gin with all her might and he returned the gesture tenderly, caressing her hair. "Gin…"

"What?"

"when I knew the baby was yours, I cried."

"When did you notice?"

"A week after you left. But…"

"What?"

"But I cried even harder when I lost it. Even if it were yours… even if I were to raise the kid alone… I wanted it to be born."

"How long was it…?"

"Two months."

"I supposed. Ya didn't even notice a sudden reiatsu inside ya."

"No, women feel their babies reiatsu when they are like four or five months. It was too soon."

"Ya didn't told anybody, don't ya?"

"No. Only Isane knew, and she never noticed I went to the Fake Karakura."

"If I could only make it up to ya…"

"No, Gin… let's just be together tonight and then… forget the other ever existed. Just pretend you never helped the starving girl on the road, and I'd pretend you never appeared."

"Then what would ya be, Rangiku?" He closed his eyes again and ruffled her hair softly. "Ya just had a name when we met; ya were alone. Ya didn't even have a birthday."

"You're right… I'm nothing without you."


	9. Linger

_**A/N:** Hi, guys! Midori here, bringing the world more fluff!  
I expect to finish two chapters for tomorrow, mainly as a self challenge because tomorrow is Shuuhei's B-day and the next one is going to be, most likely, centric on Shuu and Izuru.  
Also, I have in mind several other things, like a Hueco Mundo crack fic featuring stupid!Aizen somewhere xD and an AU one... both with much and bits of ShuuKira goodness, because that pairing is so canon it hurts, no matter how much people like it or not!_

_Chapter Title inspired by The Cranberries homonim song, Linger.  
It makes me think of Gin and Izuru, but that pairing makes me stupidly sad TwT_

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Linger

* * *

**

"Are you alright?" Shuuhei asked, sitting in front of his blond friend, making Renji to move from his seat. The red haired grunted, reluctantly moving aside.

Izuru shook his head, with a deep frown on his eyebrows.

"Kira-kun…" Hinamori muttered, placing a hand over his shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice at all.

Hisagi noticed he had his eyes fixed on a spot behind his back, which if he wasn't guessing wrong, Izuru was doing his best attempt to kill his former superior with that assassin glare.

"Izuru…" he muttered, placing a hand over his shoulder, on the place Hinamori had before. This time, Kira seemed to react to his touch, since his shoulder trembled a little and he shoved Hisagi's hand. "I know you're angry, but please consider you're making some of us worry, Izuru." He said firmly, but the blonde didn't care.

He screwed his eyes in defeat after some seconds trapped inside an awkward silence, but his frown did not disappear.

"I…" He muttered, and his voice sounded rough and dry, thing that impressed himself a little. "I…I want to…"

"You want to tear him off, please… calm down, Izuru."

"N-no…" Izuru's voice broke, thing which made Hisagi worry even more. "No, I want to talk…" He said, opening his eyes again, and staring onto Shuuhei's grey eyes. "With you. Privately."

"Uhmm…" Hisagi noticed a little blush had appeared on his face, so he managed to stop it before anyone around him noticed, specially Renji. What the hell was happening inside his mind o that moment, not even Hisagi himself knew, but the fact he was blushing around his best friend, who, to his demise, was male, no boobies and no curves, just Izuru, as plain as a man his age should be, wasn't a good omen for the tattooed Shinigami. "Is it fine, Momo? I'm taking your dancing partner away, I hope you don't mind…"

"Well, make sure you don't get used to it, Hisagi." Renji spitted, but everybody ignored him.

"No, don't worry. Kira-kun needs it, and by far, you're the only one who can put yourself on his place." Hinamori muttered, patting Izuru's back as both of them stood up and walked away from the other two lieutenants.

Hisagi dragged the blonde behind one of the farthest pillars on the room, a spot where it seemed to be much more calmer and quieter than anywhere else in the room.

"What's wrong?"

"Shuu…" Izuru muttered, lowering his head and shaking it desperately. "I know you're more than tired of hearing me ranting and whining about this, but… I can't take it." Izuru shivered, and covered his mouth with one of his thin hands, not daring to look onto Hisagi's eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"You're taking it way better than I thought, you know?"

"What were you expecting?" Izuru asked, chuckling sadly. "Me to go on a rampage and fist him until he was unrecognizable?"

"Something like that. I thought you'd go berserker on his ass."

"Please, be serious… I'm not in the mood to joke."

"Everything's better when you're smiling, Izuru." _What the fuck was that just now?! You're getting cheesy, Shuuhei!!!_

"Anyway…" Izuru said, removing the small fringe from his face. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now, Senpai. I mean, sure, I am angry and I still want to kill him, this time for real, but the problem is… just look how happy Rangiku-san looks." He said, popping his head from the pillar, finding the couple on a second. "I hate him, that's for sure." He stated, leaning back again. "But I have no right to take her happiness away, don't you think?"

"It's making you miserable."

"Her happiness? Of course not. What makes me feel like this is that that bastard ignored me. He regrets nothing. He's just as double faced, cold hearted, with his stupid fox smile and…"

"He cares. Even if he tells nothing to you." Shuuhei muttered, not completely sure of why was he telling him something Tousen had told him just recently, when he didn't even trust his former captain a little. "He's glad you're fine. He's glad you've become stronger. But you're not his priority right now." Hisagi managed to place a small smile on Izuru's face, but it vanished.

"Tousen told you that, am I wrong?"

It had taken him by surprise that Izuru had guessed in so few time, but he nodded anyway.

"You trust him?"

"No. Never again."

"Bu you_ want_ to trust him, don't you?"

"I'd give my all to do that, but… that's not the point." Shuuhei admitted, looking away from Izuru, who had managed to raise his head and look onto the other's face. "Do you want me to take you home? I think it's better if you're away from all this people… especially him."

"No, it's fine. It's better if I'm surrounded by people, because…" Izuru stopped, lowering his head and shaking it again."Shuu… I think I have no more reasons."

"Reasons?" Again, that was unexpected.

" Yes… most likely, excuses. To keep up."

"What are you… you're getting there, aren't you? What are you thinking?!"

"I have no reasons, Shuu."

"Then what are you living for? Most likely, what have you been living for?!"

Shuuhei was so desperate to erase that agonizing look on Kira's face, but no matter what he said, it only made it worse. He didn't know what to do, either.

"At first, when he was my superior, I lived to serve, and was used in exchange. Then, when he went rough, I lived for revenge, and were granted for it. After that, I lived for relief, for myself. I was happy. Then he came back… just like that, he snatched away all my reasons to live. Not only he came back, but he was proven innocent. All my efforts, all the sweat, blood and tears I've shed for the sake of it… all I had become, suddenly crumbled right in front of me." Izuru chuckled again, scratching his nose with the back of his index finger. "I'm getting poetic again."

"Well, that's the matter when you're a writer, Izuru, work interferes with your feelings. Take that as you wish, but it's the truth."

Sometimes, all that's needed is a hug. But how to even touch something so fragile and delicate, something that might shatter into pieces just with a small scratch? How? He wanted to wrap him with his arms so badly, but how could he make sure he was not going to break if he did so? Izuru was hurt. Much more hurt than Shuuhei would ever be because of their captain's desertion. So how to help him without hurting him more?

"Feelings, you say? What do you mean with that?"

"You depended so much of Ichimaru. You were… like… emotionally attached to him. Don't try to deny it."

"Attached, I was. But please, don't misunderstand the situation, Senpai." Izuru said coldly, glancing at the sky and then closing his eyes. "Don't try to compare your relationship with your captain with mine. It's as similar as Hinamori-kun and Rangiku-san. Polar opposites, in other words."

"I think you're seeing it wrong…"

"No. You were friends. You had a good relationship. Knowing he's not guilty somewhat sets you free. But me? I respected him. Obeyed him and did everything he asked without hesitating. Just like a subordinate should do. But he ever thanked me? Did he ever felt guilty of using me? No. He's as remorseful as Aizen is a saint. Knowing he's alive, and knowing I can't make any damage to him, most for the sake of a friend than the sake of the law and work… just takes any reason I have to live away."

Shuuhei sighed, and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't say that… I know you're in a lot of pain, but…" he flexed his arm and leaned a little closer, but then he reacted to what he was doing and backed again. "…but remember you're not alone in this, Izuru. There are a lot of people around you who care. Me included. You'll never be alone."

The blonde nodded, and a shy smile appeared on his face again.

"T-thank you." He stuttered, and a slight pinkish blush appeared through his cheeks, making the heat on Shuuhei's face to double itself. "I should get back with Hinamori-kun… that was so impolite from me…"

Shuuhei nodded and he let go of Izuru's shoulder, who flipped his hair behind his ears and gave his back to him, walking towards Hinamori, who was engulfed talking with Renji.

The brunette stood in there for a while, leaning against the pillar, thinking of what Izuru had told him… it was a serious matter, he knew it, but he had never, even remotely, imagined his pessimism would lead him to think of something so stupid. Possibly he was worrying a lot. Izuru had a breakdown, but he'd eventually recover, he was definitely not suicidal. Shuuhei wanted to believe that. Because seeing him that hurt was already something extremely painful to tolerate. Even picturing him dead was one hundred times, if not more, worse.

Hisagi wondered… were all his worries leading him anywhere? He was over thinking the things, but he couldn't keep out of his mind what his former captain had just told him before: _'It's better if you note them yourself. I'm sure not even you have noticed about them yet.' _

But what would he ever know?! They hadn't talked to each other in months, it was impossible for Tousen to know that Shuuhei might have been developing feelings for something remotely far from a woman, food, alcohol and his guitar… thinking about it better, he was not THAT far from all of those things. And then again, Shuuhei had always been like an open book for his captain, so there was no wonder he might have just noticed the moment they saw each other again. On the other hand, thinking of it as rhetorical as he had been placing the things, Tousen had been like an open book as well, but he had been reading blank pages all the while… how to rewrite what had been erased so long ago?

"There's no wonder." He muttered to himself, after sighing in desperation. He saw from afar Isane had been lonely for a while, sitting besides Unohana. A smile crept though his features and he started to walk towards where his new dancing partner was. "Things use to linger much more longer than you'd ever expect."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You look so lonely." A voice said behind his back.

"Oh, it's just you, Ise." The taller man turned around again, to keep an eye on his captain.

"They're fighting." She muttered, glancing at Komamura, who had a fierce glance on his yellow eyes. "Is it bad?"

"Not _that_ bad." Iba grunted, not looking onto her eyes. "But it can get worse, that's why I'm here."

"Like you can keep it up with a captain, Iba-san…"

"I know I can't but… anyway, is there anything you want, Ise? I'm kinda busy."

"Don't be so rough." She said softly. "I just came because you looked lonely."

"Now you pity me. It's better this way. Asides from that, weren't you Captain Kyouraku's date?"

"I am, but he went to bother Ukitake-Taichou, as ever."

"So you just came to bother me, don't you?"

"I'd say you're being a little bit too rough with me if that weren't truth, but unfortunately, you're right." Nanao said, smirking meanly.

"What do you want?" he grunted, and Nanao's smirk grew.

"To set a little bet."

"A bet?"

"Yup. Between your Association and mine."

"Now you recognize us as an…"

"Don't get so rushed. It's not that I'm recognizing your bunch of Yakuza monkeys as an organized Association, but as a bunch of horny men that want to watch naked women."

"Hold on, isn't that what you and your women do?! All you do is watch male porn on your extremely expensive cell phones!"

"No, we don't. we gain profit from producing the so-called male porn." Ise smiled again, making the other to shiver in fear. "that's why I'm betting with you."

"What's the deal?"

"Most likely, the question should be what would you win if you defeat us."

"Ok, then what?"

"Fan service… you know what it stands for, don't you?"

"It's quite obvious." Iba said, but he frowned. "But what do you mean with that, I mean, fan service, yeah, but… so what?"

"You'll have the Female Shinigami Association and its allies in _whichever_ clothes you choose for us to get, in _whichever_ pose you want. Not only you'll get your hands busy with good stuff, but you'll gain profit from it, making you and your henchmen an actual organization."

"In given case you win… what would you like to get?"

"The same. Profit." Nanao sighed. "The matter is we need to have both Kuchiki-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou on the photo shoot, if not, our sales are going to be a little down."

"Hitsugaya is not a problem. He's easy to lure, if you know how to taunt him." Iba smirked. "Just tell him that way he'll look much more manlier and less childish and you'll have him dancing shirtless with a pineapple if you want." His smirk disappeared. "The problem is Kuchiki. That guy has a stick on his ass or something."

"You have to be so disgusting?"

"Yes, I have to. But if you want us to convince those two, you must give us something as good as them!"

"Yoruichi-san and Rangiku."

"What?"

"They're on the top of your list, aren't they?" She asked, smirking. "It's just fair to do that."

"You're saying, in case we might end up in a draw, if we don't get Kuchiki and Hitsugaya, you're not letting us to take any of Matsumoto and Shihoin, am I right?!"

"Basically, yes. But there's no way we'd end on a draw. There are three challenges, it's everything or nothing."

"I don't know, something might happen… what are the challenges?"

"First one, you should know by far there's something going on between Hisagi and Kira…"

"Only an idiot wouldn't have noticed… yet, it all started because of a rumor, didn't it?"

"Yes it did." Nanao smiled wider, and invited the other lieutenant to dance, offering him a thin hand, but he refused, shaking his head. Nanao rolled her eyes behind her glasses and dragged him away from the dance floor, to the table she was sharing with Kyouraku, who had disappeared along with the 13th division captain. "Well, the point is either to bring them together before the new year starts, or in given case, leave things clear about what's happening."

"You mean, either make the rumor true or declare it a false alarm."

"Exactly. The second task is to discover the one who spread the rumor around."

"And the third one?"

"I was… actually expecting you to give me ideas. We were thinking of several deals, but we couldn't come with any."

"What about… breaking Urahara's Kido and steal the booze?"

"It'll make a draw, again." She stated, fixing her glasses. "Renji and Matsumoto teamed up to break it and actually got it."

"And why haven't they given me any?!"

"Because they got caught." Yachiru had reached where the two older Shinigami were, and she sat besides Nanao. "So, you're playing our game, Tetsu-chan?!" She asked, leaning closer to his former subordinate and pulling his sunglasses, but Iba snapped just on time to slap her hand.

"Don't call me that! And it depends on this third task if I'm playing or not!!"

"So?! Any ideas?!" Yachiru screamed, leaning on the table.

"What about beating the crap out of the gossip and…?"

"What if it was just a misunderstanding? Not only we have to investigate who was it, we also have to know his or her reasons to do so."

"Yeah, you're right…" Iba grunted, sipping from a glass of water that had been abandoned before on the table. "I seriously have no idea, Ise."

"Nanao-chan!" Yachiru said, poking the woman's nose, who blinked on surprise at the gesture. "I just got an idea!!!"

"What?" Both Iba and Nanao asked, and Yachiru stood over the table, pointing at the spot where Rin was lying unconscious after a sugar overload.

"This is a challenge for a representative of each association!" Yachiru screamed, making the elders to jump, scared. "The chosen ones are to discover if Rin is actually a boy or a girl!!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"OH, MY GOOOOOOD!!!!!" A squeaky voice screamed, making Ichigo to twitch. "KENSEI THIS LOOKS SOOOO AMAZING!!!!! I WANT ONE OF THOSE AT HOME!"

"Shut up, Mashiro…"

"Kensei, don't be a party pooper!!"

"Yes, Kensei, cheer up a little! It's a party!!! Come, guys, there's Ichigo!"

The orange headed boy was out of nowhere hugged, kicked, slapped and hit on the head by four different people at the same time, which almost made him fall to the floor.

"That's for not inviting us, Kurosaki!!" Hiyori said, frowning.

"Don't harm Strawberry-chan, Hiyori!!!" Mashiro defended him, pushing him so he could stand up. "And why did Lisa-chan slapped Ichi-chan? And why did you hit him, Shinji?!"

"I slapped him before he could tell anything about my dress." Ichigo noted her gown was a little bit too revealing, and he was about to say something about it when he got slapped again. "Don't. do. It."

"And I just hit him 'cuz it has become some sort of an habit…"

"Oh, god…"

"What?" Shinji asked, a little worried he might have left a trauma on Ichigo hitting him so hard or something.

"You!!" He said, pointing at Hiyori, who opened her eyes wide, scared a little. "YOU'RE WEARING A DRESS!"

Ichigo started to laugh along with Shinji, both pointing at the smaller Vizard, who blushed and frowned. She walked towards them and kicked both of them where one should never hit a man, ever, with all the strength her short legs allowed her. She turned around, and mumbling something, she got away from her group.

While both the blonde and Ichigo were still twitching in pain, Love and Rose laughed, getting away as well as Hacchi to take a table, so they could start drinking once Urahara opened the 'bar'. Lisa just glared at them and left her small purse with the other three, and then she disappeared within the crowd.

"Ah, seriously, you two don't know when to shut up…" Kensei muttered, helping Shinji to stand up.

"What's the matter with her?!!"

"You just laughed at your date, you know?"

"Date?!" Ichigo asked, excited.

"Yeah, we came here on some sort of pairs…"

"Ooohhh did youuuuu?" Ichigo asked, smirking. "So you and Hiyori, uh?"

"Never in this life!!! Just because we wanted to come with a girl!"

"So I guess Rose and Lisa, or Love and Lisa?"

"Rose and Lisa." Kensei asked, sulking and attempting to get Mashiro away. "And this thing and me… but she sort of took it seriously."

"What about Love and Hacchi?"

"Hacchi doesn't like to dance." Mashiro said, shaking her head. "And Love is like… the third wheel with Lisa and Rose." She squealed, laughing and squeezing Kensei's arm.

"Oh… all right…" Ichigo said, a bit shocked.

"Anyway…" Shinji said, looking around to find Hiyori. "I might as well abandon her and go with Lisa if she doesn't come back… did you saw where she went?"

"Nup." Mashiro said, shaking her head slightly, but she smiled. "Yet she mumbled she was going to search for someone… 'whitey something'… hehehe, a boyfriend of hers, I guess!" she giggled, and looked up to bother Kensei a little bit more, but the white haired Vizard was not paying attention to their conversation anymore. Instead, he had a deadly glare fixed upon a certain dark skinned man that Ichigo knew Kensei was about to kill if nobody stopped him anytime soon. Thankfully, a squeaky song from the eighties Ichigo had heard started to play, and Mashiro squeaked, and dragged him towards the dance floor, Kensei accepting reluctantly after a little tug-o-war with the smaller woman.

"Oh, these people are too troublesome… well, in effect Hiyori left me, have you seen Urahara?"

"Yes, he's dancing with Yoruichi-san… but I suggest you not to interrupt them. Well, not until Soifon gets permission to kill him, at least."

"Uh?"

"Yeah, a big proposal as it seems Urahara-san is going to make tonight that might not make Soifon-taichou any happy."

"Ooohhh…" Shinji sighed, rolling his grey eyes. "Is it tonight EVERYBODY has a couple excepting you and I, Ichigo?"

"Ehmm… actually, it's only you."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, you see… I got a date and…"

"A Shinigami, don't you?!"

"Well, yeah, any problem?"

"No, not actually… I just thought you were digging more on Orihime-chan…"

"No." Ichigo said, firmly. Tilting his head towards the spot where Rukia was doing a para-para dance between Orihime and Ishida, who was having a little trouble with it.

"Why aren't you with her?"

"Mainly, because I hate those para-para dances, and second because I don't know the moves from that one." He pointed at Rukia and Orihime who had started to jump madly around each other, and then at Ishida, who had given up and went to sit down with Renji and Byakuya, panting heavily. "it's hard for men to move like that, and stretch your legs like those girls do. That's why I hate that song… on the other hand… Kensei seems incredibly proficient at dancing it…" Ichigo said, finding him dancing besides Mashiro at an incredible fast speed.

"That's because you hadn't spent a century with Mashiro, Ichigo." Shinji sighed. "Not that you're missing anything, really."

Ichigo laughed, nodding.

"Not that I actually want." He frowned as the song faded and Kensei tried to escape, but the small Vizard climbed onto his shoulder and made a lock on his neck so he would stop moving. "Poor, poor Kensei!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey, chibi!!!"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Uhmm… we were invited? Can't you at least say hello? I saved your ass back then…"

"NO!"

"Oh, come on, whitey!!!" Hiyori poked his cheek and smirked. "Why are you so serious?"

"Leave me alone!" He grunted, shoving her. "And what are you doing here?! It's the men's bathroom! Go away!"

"Noooo…"

"Anything that wears a dress (except probably Yumichika…) shouldn't enter here!!! Go out!!"

"You're not peeing, Whitey." Hiyori mocked, resting her hands and her back o the sink. "and there's nobody else here, so I see no reason for leaving!"

"ANYWAY!!!"

"Nup." Hiyori smiled, and she leaned a little closer with her hands on her waist and a peevishly smile on her face. "And the fact you're not in need to pee, makes me think you're hiding. And as it is the men's bathroom, I'm quite capable to tell it's your girlfriend!"

"I DON'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"

"Oh, no doubt about that, who would want to date a grumpy dwarf like you, chibi?!"

"YOU'RE SMALLER THAN ME!!!"

"But I'm older, you moron!" Hiyori smile softened, to Toushiro's demise. "So, a girl you like?"

"Not of your business…" He said, softly, trying to shove the hand she had used to ruffle his hair.

"So it is a girl."

"N-no!"

"Hmmm… for what I can think, it's either a crush on an older woman, or a girl your age who's an intimate friend of yours."

"Why do you care?!"

"Why? Because I'm hiding here too!" Hiyori said, frowning and looking onto the door. "But thinking of it, it might be even more possible for that idiot to enter the men's bathroom…"

"How did you know I was here?"

"It quite felt colder." Hiyori smirk returned, and she left his hair alone, making Hitsugaya to ruffle it back to its original position.

"So you're hiding too? From who?"

"As well, from my date." She smiled, not looking onto his eyes, and eavesdropping outside, to see if Shinji was anywhere nearby. "He's an idiot, but I guess he would never expect to find me here."

"Well, no! you're wearing a dress!"

"So what? You could be wearing one, nobody would notice. Usually, girls won't grow boobs unless they're mature enough… you still look like a kid!"

"SHUT IT! I'M NOT A KID!"

"If you weren't a kid, you'd not scream at me every time I tell you you're a kid, chibi!"

"NEITHER I'M A CHIBI!"

"That wolf-dude out there doesn't get angry when they call him names. He's an adult, Whitey!"

"What about you?!"

"I only get angry when people call me short… because I am short… Ughh… who cares?"

"I still don't trust you! Why the sudden change of personality, Vizard?!"

"Why, you ask, Whitey? Because my date can be a jerk some times and doesn't notice some important things. That's why I came to bother you, chibi. Because you might be acting as my stupid date to that girl."

Hitsugaya opened his eyes wide, but then he smiled softly, his frown disappearing for the first time in the whole night.

"Thanks… and it's not chibi, nor whitey… Hitsugaya Toushiro."

"Heh… it's not Vizard, Shiro-chibi." The boy frowned… _not another one._

She offered him a hand, which he shook and then she punched him on the arm.

"It's Sarugaki Hiyori! Don't forget it!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Shuuhei-kun took Isane-chan out, and my Nanao-chan escaped to bet with Tetsuzaemon-san… that's not faaaaaair!"

"She'll come back, don't worry."

"But… but… Nanao-Chan's having so much fun without me!! Look! She's laughing with him!!! Oh, Noooo, my Nanao-chan is falling in love with somebody that's not me!"

"Kisuke-san hadn't removed the Kido barrier form the table yet, has he, Retsu-san?"

"No, he hasn't…" the woman answered, the she turned around again and grabbed the white haired Shingami's hand, making him to blush a little. "How are you feeling, Shiro-san?" She asked, with a kind smile on her face.

"Much more better! Thank you!"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!"

"Nee, nee!! Shiro-san and Retsu-chan are going to dance and leave me alone, don't' you?! Don't you?!"

"No, Shunsui… we're going to wait until Ise-san comes, we're not leaving you alone…"

"But… but… remember, Shiro!! You… you…"

"I'll do it, I told you."

"What are you two talking about?" Unohana asked, intrigued, but the kind smile still on her face.

"Oh, nothing, nothing! You'll sooner or later know, don't matter!"

"Well, if you put it that way…" She stood up and bowed at both of them, and to her surprise, both men stood up screaming.

"NO!"

"W-w-where are you going?!" Shunsui asked, stuttering.

"To ask Zaraki-san if he would like to dance with me. He seems lonely since Yachiru is betting as well. And his third and fifth seat are quite busy, so I'll accompany him."

"No, no, Retsu! Wait!"

"You forgot the honorific, Shiroooo…" Shunsui muttered to him, knowing he had done it on purpose.

"I'll go with you!"

"But you said you didn't want to leave him alone." She tilted her head towards Shunsui, who smiled mischievously and waved a hand.

Ukitake frowned at him and took her hand again, smiling after that.

"He can take care of himself!"

Shunsui's smile vanished, as he watched both Shinigami walking away, dancing a slow song that had started to play after a para-para one.

"They had just left you alone, don't they?!" a voice asked behind his back, making him turn around.

"Lisa-chan!"

"Hi, Shunsui." She said, frowning.

"Why are you so angry at meeeeee?!"

"Why, you ask?!" Her frown deepened, as she placed both of her hands on her waist. "It might possibly be because I vanished from your word 111 years ago, and you didn't care at all. You never searched for me, you just called me dead!"

"Of course not!!! I didn't call you dead! I was expecting for you to come back!"

"And you waited a century?! You never searched for me! You couldn't care less about me! Not that I mind anymore, but it still hurts!"

"Do you think I really don't care about you, Lisa?"

"YEAH!" She screamed, trying not to punch his arm with all her might. "I'd have searched for you if ANYTHING had happened! But you just pretended I never existed!"

"I couldn't search for you. Not with Yama-jii following us like a shadow!"

"Then you place your work over your friends?! You place your job over me?! Now I get it…" She muttered, giving her back to him. "… all the things you ever said… all of it were lies, weren't they? All the love you promised, all the pretty stuff you ever blabbered… all of that was just worthless crap, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't."

"Then what are they now to you?"

"Now?"

"Yeah… do you still think of me like you did before?"

"…"

"Answer me!"

"Kyouraku-taichou?" another voice behind his back asked, which made the older man to roll his eyes. Of all people who had to encounter that night, it had to be his former and actual lieutenants! "A-am I interrupting anything?"

"No, you're not."

"Nanao?" Lisa asked, surprise shown in her face when her eyes met the ones of the younger woman, who was as well surprised. They looked so alike anyone would have thought they were twins, or older and younger sisters, if not.

"L-Lisa-san…" Nanao muttered.

"Now I get it, Shunsui." The frown had disappeared from her face, but the hairy one could tell she was quite hurt of finding Nanao there, calling Kyouraku her captain, after all. "You had a good replacement for me. They don't mean anything to you anymore."

The Vizard turned around and ran away, leaving the two Shinigami alone.

"Oh, boy…" Shunsui said, scratching his chin without looking at Nanao. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Nanao-chan…"

"Are you all right?" Nanao asked, placing a hand over his shoulder, as he was giving his back to her, she couldn't see his face, but the young woman could tell her captain was incredibly sad, just by the posture of his body.

"Yes, I am…"

"No, you're not…" Nanao muttered, making him to turn around.

"Then why you ask?" He said, trying to sound as cheery and joyful as he could, failing.

"Because I'm worried about you!!! It's not usual to see you this sad! Unless you're having the worst hangover of the year."

"Ok, fine, I'm not happy, if you want to hear that. Maybe it's because she's right. I did not search for her, thing I should have done."

"You had no option! What would you have done if you went to search for Lisa-san and found her anyway?! There's nothing you could do! You wouldn't be able to bring her back! You wouldn't be able to save her! You wouldn't be able to flee from Soul Society and stay with her! You once told me all of that! I had asked you the same things before!"

"…" Shunsui sighed, letting himself fall onto his lieutenant open arms. "I had forgotten." He muttered, as she patted his back.

"Well, of course you wouldn't tell her that, idiot." She said softly. "Do you want me to go and talk to her?"

Shunsui shook his head and took a deep breath, leaning back from Nanao's embrace to look at her face.

"No, go and have fun."

"I'm your date, you're supposed to have fun as well. I can't leave you in this state."

"I'm sure Tetsuzaemon-kun wouldn't mind to be your companion for a while… seriously, I don't like being such a spoilsport, Nanao-chan."

"You're not! And seriously, Iba-san is no fun."

"Heh… you still like him, anyway."

"E-Ehh?"

"Don't deny it. You like him."

"No!! he's a monkey with sunglasses!"

"That doesn't keep away the fact you like the monkey. What I've been asking myself is why, and I think I've just got my answer."

"U…uh?"

"Yeah… you like him so much because you can make him angry any time you want. And of course he'll do anything you want, thing you'd never be able to do with me, don't you think? No matter how much you try, you can't make me angry, and even if you force me to work, you'll never be completely able to boss me around… since I'm your boss, anyway."

Nanao opened her eyes wide. Her captain had guessed in less than one hour what she had been longing to answer for almost half a century, and he did it all with little effort, apparently.

Ise smiled… when he said it like that, not only did it sound incredibly obvious that was the reason, but it also sounded pretty stupid.

"The worst of all, Nanao-chan…" He muttered. "Is that I can see he likes you back."

"Shut up already…" She whispered, angrily.

"Not that I can blame the poor guy, actually." He added, ignoring her.

She fisted her hands on his shirt and pulled him down enough so she'd reach his lips, since he was like 30 centimeters taller than she was. Shunsui's sadness seemed to vanish as he realized what his lieutenant had just done, as well as he also noted it wasn't midnight yet, so he still had an advantage over Ukitake on their little bet. An involuntary smile appeared on his face, hugging Nanao and merely lifting her from the floor. Nanao had cupped his face in a delicate way that almost made the elder to melt at her touch, squeezing her body a little bit tighter. After some seconds, they broke the kiss and he placed her down on the ground again, but she never let go of his face. She leaned a little bit closer, but didn't kiss him again, she just smiled.

"You talk too much, Taichou."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh, damn!" Ukitake muttered as he witnessed his friend kissing his lieutenant at a certain distance. Retsu flinched at the sudden cursing of her partner, but her smile didn't disappear.

"What happened?"

"W-what?" He snapped, noticing he had just cursed in front of the woman he was betting for. "N-no, nothing, it's nothing, Retsu!!"

"Are you sure it's nothing, Juushiro-san?" she asked kindly, but there was some sort of threatening tone on her voice which made Ukitake shiver… she was a scary woman, and he'd actually prefer to be burned by Yamamoto's Bankai that making the black haired captain angry.

"Y-yes, I'm sure! D-don't worry, Retsu-san!!!"

_Oh, the honorifics are back… these two are up to something. _She thought, smirking.

"Anyway…" She said when his attention was fully hers once again. "Are you sure you're feeling ok? You still look a bit frail and…"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little tired, but that's not a real problem, is it?" he admitted.

"No, is not, but you must not overdo yourself."

"I am not, I hadn't moved much since we arrived and you're here, anyway. Whatever happens to me, you'll take care of me, won't you?"

To her surprise, she noticed she was blushing… probably for the first time in centuries.

"Yes, of course I would. Just… don't rush yourself. We're talking of worst-case scenario, aren't we?"

"Of course… anyway… thank you."

"For what?" She asked, certainly surprised.

"For all your time and care. Without you… I don't know where I'd be right now. That's why!"

Her warm smile came back, and to his amusement, she pecked a kiss on his lips, a slight and soft one, that felt like the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted.

"Now you can tell Shunsui he didn't win the bet, don't you?"


	10. Gamble, Gamble, Gamble! Part 1

_**A/N:**I was supposed to update this a month ago.  
But I suck so much, I didn't. Sorry for the delay, but I've been busy. Stupidly busy. I hate myself TwT  
Asides from that, this chapter was waay too complicated, I started to run out of ideas in the middle. And right afterwards, I noticed the chapter was stupidly long. So I splitted it on two._

_I'm really sorry, if you're still reading this, have one of Nemu's cookies........no, you better not eat it........ better have a frappé from Shiro-chan :D Because you guys deserve it for being such patient readers._

* * *

**Chapter 10 **

**Gamble, Gamble, Gamble!**

**(Part 1)

* * *

**

After a while the beat had changed. It was no longer slow songs, but fast, electric ones that sent vibes down one's spine. Ichigo smiled, that music was the one he liked, the one he enjoyed. As soon as it started to play and the whole dance floor seemed to rearrange itself, by the fact now it seemed there were no longer couples dancing, but a bunch of people jumping and shaking, he rushed to where Rukia was, as well as Orihime, now with Ishida.

The lights of the chandeliers had toned down and the light system had started to work, and Ichigo noticed Urahara was passing several glowing sticks around the room.

By the time the first song was over, everyone had a light stick on their hands, or in Renji's, Ikkaku's and Yumichika's case, several tangled around their bodies. The red head and the bald one had what seemed just two glowing sticks tied to each other around their heads, Renji's was green, so it shined incredibly against his mane, but Yumichika seemed to have gone through a lot, because he was wearing some sort of complex-done crown over his hair, and he was dancing happily with his arms around Ikkaku's neck.

Ichigo noticed that in his distraction Rukia had left him dancing, with Ishida, in fact, and she was now having fun doing some kind of robotic movements with Orihime, who was laughing.

"This isn't good, Kurosaki…" Ishida said. "They're actually having much more fun on their own.

"Then let's just join them, Ishida!!" Ichigo said, shoving the black haired man aside and stepping between Rukia and Orihime, doing the stupid robot dance. Ishida stood on his spot, fixing his glasses.

"I think being a waiter would have been more worth than this…" He sighed, as Orihime's hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him to dance with them. Ashamed a little, he joined the stupid robot dance as well.

While they were doing their strange ritual, as Renji would call it, he had dragged, incredibly, his captain dancing. And the worst of all, he danced pretty good. Not doing a ridiculous thing like Ichigo, not being incredibly show off, not too intense like Ikkaku and Yumichika that somewhat seemed to be pasted with glue, and not too tight like Izuru, who made Renji's broom look like a bending stick.

"You're pretty good at this, Kuchiki-taichou!" he said, smiling.

"It's not that hard." Byakuya said, indifferent. "you're not bad either, Renji."

"May I ask what brought you to accept and come here to dance with us?" Renji asked, but the music was too loud Byakuya couldn't hear him.

"What?"

"That what made you accept and come dancing!!" Renji said, leaning a little closer to his superior so he'd hear him.

"WHAT?!"

"THAT WHAT MADE YOU COME AND DANCE!" Renji screamed, making Byakuya to back down and surprisingly, he smirked.

"Nothing really." Byakuya admitted, speaking loudly onto his lieutenant's ear. "Just because all of you were having a lot of fun, I was quite bored."

"So you're having fun now?"

"Kind of…"

"I am glad…" Renji muttered, leaning back as well.

"Hey, Abarai!" Iba's voice spoke behind him, making him to turn around, a bit surprised.

"What's wrong, Iba-san?!"

"Come!"

"Uhmm… Kuchiki-Taichou, would you mind…?"

"He can come too, there's no problem. Help me get the other guys."

"Kira and Hisagi are just…"

"Except those two, I have important stuff to talk with all the others… don't bring all at the time, we'd call all the attention."

Renji nodded, and after Iba disappeared, he glanced at his superior, who looked back at him slightly interested into what these guys were about to do.

After some time, Renji managed to drag Akon and the older one had brought Ukitake and Kyouraku with him.

"What is it, Iba?" Akon grunted, seemingly he was busy taking care his captain didn't put odd stuff onto people's drinks when nobody was looking, just for the fun of it and it's sub effects.

"Bet. Profit. In other words, porn!"

"Talk." Renji ordered, deadly serious about it.

"You were betting with Nanao-chan, didn't you? What's it about?" Shunsui asked, raising both of his eyebrows.

"Her people are betting against our association. If we win, we get to make them pose in whichever way we want, wearing whatever we want!"

"Ok… and as 'wearing whatever we want', 'nothing' is still included, right?"

"She said nothing about it, and knowing Ise, she'd do the same if she wins."

"Say, they're getting the same price?"

"Yeah, but using us as models…"

"We so have to win that bet!!! What do we have to do?!" Renji asked, excited.

"There are three challenges, in sight we might as well end up in a draw, thing we want to avoid. The third task is a special one, that neither Iemura, Ise, Kusajishi or I could do. Nor Unohana, as it seems, no high seats."

"What is it?"

"Akon, you're in charge of that one!"

"What is it?" The scientist repeated, pested.

"We have to find out that thing's sex." He said, pointing at Rin who just woke up, sugar high and running in circles chasing Hanataro. "Since you're his/her superior and the closest one to Rin, you're to discover!"

"Fine… mind if I bring my captain? He seems interested as well."

"No, but you rather not."

"Why?"

"I think Ise had the same idea and she's sending Nemu to do the same task."

"Oh… fine…"

"You sound quite depressed, Akon-san… anything wrong?" Renji asked, but the eyebrow less man shook his head.

"Fine, so he'll do it. Now the reason why I didn't want you to bring neither Hisagi or Kira was because the first and second deal involve them."

"Why is this leading me to think it has something to do with that rumor that has been spreading around lately?"

"Exactly." Iba grunted, relaxing his muscles and trying to calm down so he'd give a good explanation to his henchmen… and Byakuya. "The matter of fact is we have to find out the bastard who spread it. And also, as it seemed the little prank was true, we have to set them up before midnight."

"Set… Hisagi and Kira? Really?" Renji asked, surprised. "Well, if I get Yumi and Ikkaku to work on it… we might win. And well… Ikkaku was the one who told me about the rumor, and he told me Yumichika heard it somewhere."

"Same here."

"Well, I actually heard it from Kiyone." Ukitake said, thinking about it. "It seemed Isane told her."

"Yeah, Isane was told by Nanao-chan." Kyouraku confirmed.

"I heard Rin babbling about it non-stop after some sugar high moment."

"I don't care." Byakuya said firmly, making the other men around to glare at him.

"You're no fun…"

"Well, I heard it from Abarai… so far, the suspects are Ise, Isane, and Yumichika."

"I go for Yumichika." Renji said, glaring at the vain man, raving with his partner.

"Just because he's gay that doesn't mean…"

"Ise couldn't have been, Iba-san, you should know by far. It'll make her win immediately."

"That's a good point."

"Then is Isane, and Yumichika."

"We're all thinking the same, Isane couldn't have done such thing! Maybe her sister, but not her! I put my cards on Yumi!"

"Me too!"

"I don't mind."

"Yes, it was Yumichika-kun!"

"Let's not jump into conclusions. The point is we have suspects but no real culpable."

"Well then, let's spread the voice and let's get working."

"Iba-san, one last question…"

"What, Abarai?"

"How… how are you planning to set those two up? One is too shy and the other is too proud… just how? I can't picture it."

"Two words, Abarai: Playing dirty."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Nanao, what's wrong?"

"The bet is settled. Get the people, not all, don't drag attention. I'll explain."

"Fine…"

After some minutes less than the half of the FSA was reunited, Nanao and Yachiru standing on the center.

"Listen, the bet has been set. As supposed, one of the challenges will be to ser Hisagi and Kira together. The other one is to discover who spread the rumor. Any suggestions?"

"Not actually." Matsumoto said, scratching her chin. "I got told by Renji."

"Me too." Nanao sighed scratching her chin.

"I heard it from Matsumoto-san." Isane said, smiling. "And I told my nee-chan about it. Also to my Taichou."

"Mhhh… that just leaves me thinking it was Abarai."

"It's possible. As a prank towards them."

"But I heard Renji heard from Ikkaku."

"Yachiru-chan said that Yumichika told him."

"This is way more complicated…"

"I point for Renji." Matsumoto said.

"I'll go for Yumi." Yachiru said. "He's too suspicious."

"I'd actually go for somebody who's not been mentioned before. Because if we think about it, we're just running in circles." Unohana said, smiling.

"So it has to be somebody from outside both associations. Or if not, at least well related to both boys."

"Exactly." Nanao said, smiling. "Then the last challenge. None of the higher positions, be president and vice-president, neither Unohana taichou can do this one. We have to choose somebody, a chairwoman to do it. And as I think Iba-san is going to pick Akon-san to do this task, NEMU! You're to win against him! If needed, use _those_ methods!"

"Yes." Nemu muttered.

"More importantly, Nemu, don't let your Taichou get involved in this!"

"May I ask why, Ise-san?" Nemu asked with no emotion on her voice.

"Mainly, because we don't know who'd he will to help if Akon or you. Just use _those_ methods, Nemu, or boss him around! Your rank is higher than his anyway!"

"Yes." She repeated and bowed at the other women, then she walked away and started to chase after Rin, who had gone on a rampage again.

"Fine… that one's done… how are we setting up Shuuhei and Izuru, Nanao?" Matsumoto asked, exited.

"Easily, dear…" Nanao smirked evilly. "Playing dirty."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The blonde petite girl had left him alone with a confused look on his face, alone in the bathroom. What she had said was not that far from the truth, but he'd never give the reason to a girl that not only dared to call him dwarf, Shiro and kid, but also chibi… what the hell was with her, anyway?

But Hiyori might be right after all. The girl in discussion was pretty. And popular with boys. _I mean, who would not like her? She's cute, she's silly, she's… gah, she's just the bed wetter Momo!! Don't over-do it!_

Hitsugaya sighed, ruffling his own hair back.

"HITSUGAYA-TAICHOU!!!" A voice screamed, making the boy to jump inside the cubicle and hit his head with the ceiling.

"What do you want, Ukitake?!" He screamed, jumping down of the toilet seat and walking out of the cubicle.

"Oh! There you are!!!" the white haired man rose a finger and introduced a hand on his sleeve, taking out a lollipop from it, and handing it to the small Shinigami. "Here! Happy new year's…!"

"Is that all you came for?!"

"Of course not!!! You just… you know! An old habit!"

"Sure… what is it?!

"We need your help." Iba said, entering the bathroom.

"Once more, I'm not entering your Association so you can make money and…"

"Ah, so bad…" Renji said, smiling. "Because if you were to help us, you'll be rewarded as we're going to be! Hinamori would be very proud of you!"

"What are you talking about, Abarai?!"

"Oh, nothing! You don't want to hear about it…"

"I might make up my mind… no, Ukitake, no need to give me another lollypop, leave it like that!" He said while the other one scratched over his whole coat and pants searching for more candy.

"Well… the thing is we made a bet with the FSA, you know… if we win we'll have the girls wearing and posing in whichever way we want, that includes little Momo…"

Hitsugaya repressed a blush, but his childish face showed how embarrassed he was, anyway.

"Why would I like any picture of Hinamori?! She's plain!!!"

"And you complain having Matsumoto as your lieutenant?! You're worse than Kuchiki!" Iba said.

"You're comparing me to Kuchiki?!"

"Yes, I am… and when we meant wearing whatever we want, we meant whatever."

"I don't care."

"Yes, you're way worse than Kuchiki."

"Oh, by the way… did you knew Momo-chan is having a lot of fun with Kira-kun?!" Ukitake said, with no bad intention at all, but both Renji and Iba smiled… he had just hit the spot.

"WHAT?!!"

"Yeah! They're dancing really close and… H-hey! Wait!!! Where are you going?!"

"Ohhhhhh, my goodness, Kira is a dead man unless Hisagi saves his ass!!!" Iba said, with Renji smiling and nodding excited on the back. On the other hand, Ukitake was plainly confused.

"Good job, Ukitake-taichou!" Renji said, patting his back.

"What did I just do?!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA IT'S SHO FUN AKON-SAAAAAAN!!!! WHY DUN'T YOU-YOU-YOU-TRY A BIIIIIIT?!"

"Rin, shut up…"

"JUSH HAVES SOME CANDIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEESAKON-SAN!!!!!"

The eyebrow less man was having a wresting-like match against his comrade, carrying the kid to try to see if there were any organs either a male or a female shouldn't have, but the child kept twisting and laughing.

"No, I don't like candy, shut up!"

"YA DON'T LIKE CANDY?! WHUT KIND OF MOOOONSTER R YAAA?!"

"A monster with three horns on the forehead… would you mind to stop it?!!!" He screamed as Rin tried to put a fist full of candy onto his mouth.

"NOOOO, UNTIL YA EAT SUM!"

"RIN!!" Akon screamed again, and the kid fell down from his arms hitting the ground with a loud noise. "Shut up and sit still!"

"NOOO WHY?!"

"I want to check something!"

"WHUT?!"

"Are you…" The fact of asking Rin directly was stupid, but if it worked, It'll leave him free from a lot of investigation. "Are you male or female?!"

"A male or a female?"

"Yes, what are you?"

"If I tell ya… Would you eat CANDIEEEEEEEEES?!"

Akon sighed, smacking his own face, but then he nodded.

"I'M A SHEMALE!" Rin screamed, and introduced a fist onto Akon's mouth, who had no option but to eat the goddamned candy.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, YOU IDIOT!"

"YA WANTEN AN ANSWUUUUUUR!"

"You little…"

"Akon-san…" a calm feminine voice said behind him.

"Nemu-fukutaichou…" He muttered, frowning… if Iba wasn't wrong, they had sent the woman to take care of the same task as him.

"Leave Rin alone. I must discover what it is before you. Please step aside."

"I'm afraid I'll have to differ, Nemu-san"

"You differ?"

"Yes, I have to win this task as well."

"It's an order, from a superior, Akon-san."

_Damn… _Akon thought, standing up after knocking Rin with his elbow.

"They sent you as well, don't they?"

"Yes, they did. Please step aside." She placed a hand on his shoulder to try to shove him aside, but he placed himself in front of Rin to stop her.

"No."

"Then you leave me no other option, Akon-san…" She muttered, emotionless as always.

"W-what are you gonna…? Nemu-s…? Gah!!!" He mumbled after Nemu tackled him down to the ground and started to suffocate the scientist as she had done to Ishida months before. Akon tried to push her, but the woman had pinned him to the ground and was smashing his face with her voluptuous body. Akon's hands started to shake around to try to push her from anywhere else that was not her breasts, but it was impossible, due to the fact he couldn't see a thing… still he was sure Renji and Iba were nearby to where he was lying, laughing their asses off, at the same times they were having a nosebleed of death.

When Nemu lifted her weight from his body, he gasped for air, panting heavily…

"NEMU, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!!!" Akon screamed, frustrated, embarrassed and completely flushed.

"It's a boy." She said, poking Rin's ribs. "I'm sorry, Akon-san." She muttered, as Akon, who had already sat up straight, laid on his back once again, with his eyes wide open. Nanao walked by and patted Nemu's arm, who smiled slightly, and then she rushed to shove the females' victory on Iba's face.

"Why did you had to use _those_ methods?!" He asked, removing the hair from his face.

"Because they're extremely useful." She said, poking his rib as well. "Are you ok?"

"No. You just suffocated me, you want me to be all right?"

"I'm sorry." She said again. "We had to win."

"And for winning you use your breast?!"

"Don't get so angry. You liked it anyway, Akon." A petulant voice said, reaching where they were. _Not him… of all people… why him?!_

"Mayuri-sama" "Kurotsuchi-taichou…" both of them said at the same time.

"So it's a boy, uh?! That was unexpected…" Mayuri said, raising an eyebrow. "I always had my cards on him being female."

"Well, he's not."

"It quite feels weird to call Rin something… I mean, to call him a 'he', or such…" Akon said, lifting his death weight from the ground.

"Why hadn't we experimented on him earlier?!" Mayuri asked, lifting the boy from the ground and sitting him over a chair to inspect his unconscious face. "Nemu, give me an scalpel, now…"

"Yes, Mayuri-sama…"

"HOLD ON, YOU PROMISED NO EXPERIMENTING HERE, STOP IT, YOU TWO!" Akon screamed, pointing at Mayuri.

"Come on, you want to experiment on him as much as we do!" Mayuri stated, pointing at his subordinate with an scalpel Nemu had taken out of her dress… _just how weird this family is?!_

"Well, yes, but Urahara-san is going to reap your head if you stain his carpets with blood!"

"They hadn't let me play with the drinks this far, and I want to see how many male ones come pregnant after this party!!"

"YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANYONE PREGNANT!"

"Neither are you, Akon, so shut up." Mayuri stated coldly, and his third seat frowned at him.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…" He said, marking Rin's forehead with a red marker, like one would do to a cow that's about to be sent to the slaughterhouse. "Just shut up and operate! Let's see what's on his brain!"

"No, you're not!" Urahara appeared in front of Mayuri, snapping the scalpel and the marker from his hand, smiling widely. "It's a party, Mayuri! Go and have fun, but no experiments! You promised!"

"Gah… you must give me something incredibly good in exchange if you want me to behave, Urahara-san!" He said, frowning. "Either way, I might just experiment on you when you're asleep."

"Oh, right… Soifon might want to help you if you are willing to do that… go and talk to her, I'm sure your daughter and her boyfriend have a lot to discuss…" He said, pushing on Mayuri's back to get him away from Rin and the other two.

"BOYFRIEND?!" Mayuri and Akon shouted, and Nemu just asked shyly.

"Hahaha, it doesn't matter, just walk, Mayuri-san, come on! come on! you're stingy as Miss Hornet, walk, walk, boy, keep walking!!"

"Boyfriend?" Nemu asked. "What's that?"

"Gahhh… how to explain it?" Akon said, taking a cigarette out from the package on his pocket. "Remember the soap opera you were watching the other day?"

"Yes."

"Well…" Akon took a puff of his little cancer stick and let the smoke come out from his thin lips. "The pair that was in there, the boy and the girl, they're involved in a romantic relationship… quite like marriage, but it's not official, you know what is it?"

"I've read about it."

"Fine…" Akon smiled, taking another puff. "Heh… I don't know how do you belong to the FSA when you don't know what a boyfriend is, when all you women do is play the matchmakers."

"No, we don't… we also do experiments."

"Yeah, like?"

"Soul Candy." Nemu said, sitting in front of the chair the male had dropped his body onto.

"Just that?"

"With kind of side effects."

"Mhhh… as innocent as ever, Nemu-fukutaichou."

"Akon-san?" She asked, making the other one to turn around completely to face her. Without having even time to blink, Nemu placed her lips over his, after he was able to take another puff, and also just before he had left out the smoke of the past one.

She broke apart after just a couple of seconds, with an emotionless look on her face, but a light blush on her cheeks.

"What was that?"

"You didn't like it?"

"No!... I mean, yeah! But why did you kissed me?!"

"So that's a so called kiss…" Nemu muttered, touching her lower lip with a finger. "It felt good."

"Yes, but why did you…?"

"The girl on the soap opera gave one to her boyfriend. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Nemu, I'm not your boyfriend."

"Akon-san?"

"What?" He said, exasperated that Nemu seemed to ignore that past sentence.

"Even if you're smoking… your lips taste sweet." She said, after kissing him once more. Akon was sure Mayuri was screaming his name on the back of the room… he'd regret all of this later, he knew that.


	11. Gamble, Gamble, Gamble! Part 2

_**A/N:** Second part of the last chapter. I wanted to do the whole challenges in just one, but it'd be like 17 pages long. I'm not that cruel._

_Have a Mayuri-Sama Apple Flavoured Lollipop if you are still reading. Because I love you, people :D_

**Chapter 11**

**Gamble, Gamble, Gamble!**

**(Part 2)**

"You're feeling better now, Kira-kun?" Hinamori asked, as the slow song they were dancing faded.

"Yes, much more better… thank you."

"No, do not thank me, I did nothing… you should thank Hisagi-san for it, he always knows how to cheer you up, doesn't he?"

Kira didn't answer, instead he turned his head around a little to find his Senpai dancing with Isane, who was at least five centimeters taller than he was. Kira couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of Hisagi looking quite petite besides a woman. Then the smile on his face vanished, as he noted he'd look like a midget if he danced with Isane at any moment.

It seemed the older man noticed Izuru was looking at him, because he as well tilted his head towards the blonde's direction and a small smirk appeared at on his scarred face.

Kira turned around once more to face the little Shinigami, who had a warm smile on her lips. If he had only knew there were several evil plotting plans inside her little head, he would have never smiled back. The matter was Hinamori craved those pictures as much as all the other women did. So she'd even give up on making a more serious relationship with the blonde work. Surely she knew about his enormous crush on her, and nobody was able to ignore Hisagi's perverted, and a bit stupid obsession with Rangiku. But not even Hinamori, who was at least really close to Izuru could deny there was something between them. Maybe it was just the pain and abandonment feeling they shared. She was as well hurt by her captain deflection, but due to the fact theirs were indeed innocent, it seemed it had recently affected much more the two men. And if they could find support on each other, Momo was nobody to step between them. Not that she actually wanted to do so…

"I'm just glad you're feeling better. I couldn't bear to see you hurt." She muttered, hugging him. Izuru shivered under her touch, and Hinamori smiled. If everything worked as they had planned, Isane and Hinamori would 'accidentally' bide the two boys with a complicated Kido spell that neither of them could break so easily… that was the bad thing about taking two Demoniac Arts Masters out to dance when they were evilly planning to set them down. Obviously, ignorance is bless.

Another song, a little more vivid than the last one had started to play, so Momo placed her arms around Izuru's neck and continued dancing with him. She noted Isane, with a lot of trouble since her couple was smaller, had done the same and had started to move nearby to where they were. It seemed neither Hisagi nor Kira noticed. Everything was going well…

…That was until Hitsugaya decided to make a dynamic entry in an attempt to knock the blonde down, even scaring the crap out of Hinamori.

"KIRA!!!"

Izuru had dodged the first kick, but he barely made it with the second one, losing his balance and tripping, only to be caught by both Isane and Hisagi.

"Hi-Hitsugaya-taichou…" Izuru muttered, a bit confused.

"YOU BASTARD, STAY AWAY FROM HER!!!"

"Shiro-chan?! What are you…?"

"I- I didn't do anything!!!"

"Shiro-chan!"

"OF COURSE YOU WERE!!! YOU WERE HUGGING HER!!"

"We were dancing!!" the blonde excused himself, reaching for Hinamori's hand, who took it a little reluctantly.

"YOU. WERE. DANCING?!" He hissed, glancing first at his friend and then at the blonde in front of him. "YOU WERE COMING WITH ME, HINAMORI!!"

"It's not my fault you had hidden in the bathroom!!" She said, angrily.

"Still! Why didn't you search for me, anyway?!"

"Because you're always sulking over something! I thought you were over-reacting! And I wasn't wrong!!" She screamed, walking away from Izuru and stomping in front of the white haired boy. "You're just being childish!! And abusing you have much more power than the four of us together, but please, settle down and grow up already!!"

"Fine, then…" Hitsugaya said, glaring at Kira behind Momo's back. "Fine, let's solve this like men, Kira!!! No swords, no Kido!!!" Hitsugaya roared, but this time Izuru glared back, a little overwhelmed by the situation.

"With all respect and with no intention to offend, I'm not… I'm not hitting a kid."

This time, Hisagi couldn't help but chuckle. Izuru gulped, and Hitsugaya grunted, folding his sleeves up to his elbows and standing on a fighting pose, shoving the little Shinigami aside. Izuru sighed, and rolled his eyes. Why, of all people, Hitsugaya had to be the one who had a sudden emotional epiphany and realized he really, really liked Hinamori to the point he'd lower himself to the point of picking a fight?!

"Seriously, Taichou, I'm not hitting you."

"Are you scared?!"

"Oh, please…" Kira sighed, removing the hair from his face. "Grow up already and get over…" but he was interrupted by Toushiro's smaller fist in a desperate attempt to shut him up. If the blonde hadn't arched his back enough, he'd have received a full blow from the white haired boy.

"Kira!!" Isane and Hisagi screamed at the same time, but the blonde, who was facing at them backwards just smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry, I can handle this." Izuru said, standing up straight once again, this time being able to grab Toushiro's hand to stop the blow, and he shoved it.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN?!" Hitsugaya roared, launching a high kick that Kira blocked with his forearm before it impacted against his head.

"Tsk…" Kira said, shoving the white haired one aside once more. "He's stupidly strong for being such a small person…"

"I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!!!"

The blonde frowned, refusing to fight back, he kept dodging and blocking the hits.

"Please, stop it, Hitsugaya-taichou…"

"BE A MAN, KIRA, AND FIGHT! OR MIGHT IT BE YOU'RE A COWARD?!"

"You little…" Izuru hissed, but then he sighed, caressing his nose bridge. "Can't you see I have no interest on Hinamori-kun, other than as a friend?!" His words seemed to calm Toushiro a little, because he had lowered his fists a little, but then he recovered his guard. "If you like her that much, then tell her, don't pick a fight for it!"

"YOU BASTARD!" Hitsugaya screamed, sending another punch to Kira, who blocked it with his hand once more, but this time his hand froze. Immediately, Izuru hit a table that was nearby to break it, and rubbed his wrist, which was stiff and cold; it quite felt like if his own blood had also frozen, so he had to hurry up to recover the movement on his fingers if he wanted to stop this stupid fight. He had hit the spot, as it seemed, because the small captain was getting angrier each second that passed. "What makes you think I like Hinamori?! She's a crybaby, she's weak, she's stupid, she's a bed wetter, she's ugly, and moreover, she's… " but he got interrupted by Izuru's furious fist, which the white haired man hadn't expected at all, since he was not attacking.

"Don't dare to talk ill of her!!!"

The white haired one wiped away the blood that had rolled down of his lip, and then he frowned, with his eyes wide open. His breath had started to flow irregularly, but Izuru didn't even shiver.

"You're a dead man!"

"Come!" Izuru roared, running against his superior. Hitsugaya launched a fist against his side, but Izuru caught it and then he kicked him with all his might, but the other one blocked it with one of his thin legs. Izuru backed away a small step, and then he went to it again.

The fight didn't seem to progress at all, until the small one managed to hit Kira on the rib with his foot. Izuru flinched and held his side with one hand, to try to ease the pain a little. Not only did it hurt like hell, but it was also cold. He hadn't forgotten what had happened to his hand minutes ago, and he managed to guess the right side of his chest was not only frozen outside, but that the little gremlin had also frozen his rib and his circulatory system.

"Damn…" Izuru panted, falling onto his knees. He was having trouble to breathe, as he guessed the ice was spreading inside of him as Hitsugaya grew angry, reaching his lungs.

"Don't try to use Kido to heal yourself, Kira!"

"You're also using Kido!!" Hinamori said, trying to reach to Kira, but she was stopped by a furious glare of the tenth division captain. "Don't look at me with those eyes, Shiro-chan! You know you are!"

"Shut up Hinamori! Don't get involved!"

"I have to! You're hurting him!!"

"Yeah, that's the point!!" Hitsugaya roared, racing again against the blonde, who hadn't rose up yet.

At the sight of the furious captain, Kira managed to stand up, still holding his side as he ran against the tenth division captain aiming to either hit him or kick him.

"SAJO SABAKU!!" Shuuhei's voice screamed behind Izuru, and a large flash passed through the blonde, surrounding the little one with golden chains to restrain him from hitting Kira.

"Sajo Sabaku" Another calm voice said, this time the chains surrounded, accidentally, both Kira and Hisagi together, since the brunette had ran to help Kira as he noticed he had been hit and possibly critically damaged.

"HISAGI, WHAT IS THIS?!" Toushiro screamed, trying to break the chains, but he was struggling in vain. That Bakudo spell was not meant to be broken by raw strength anyway, no matter how strong the

other one was.

"The same thing I might ask, Hitsugaya Taichou?!" he said, trying to stay as far as he could from Izuru, but then again, fighting again the chains was useless.

"I didn't cast it!"

"It was me…" Ukitake said, stepping in between. "I wanted to stop the fight as well, and I guess I missed my shot a little and entangled both of you, sorry for that."

"Would you mind breaking the spell?" Izuru said, who had accidentally placed his hands over Shuuhei's chest as they crashed against each other. "We're quite in a suggestive pose in here."

"Oh, sure! Sorry!" Ukitake said, pointing at them and releasing the chains. Izuru's arms slid limp down to his sides, and then he clenched, grabbing his wound once more.

"Are you all right?" Hisagi asked, before releasing Toushiro.

"I think it has reached my lung… Hit me, Shuuhei."

"What?"

"Hit me, you idiot, you have to break the ice."

"Let me take you to Unohana-Taichou, she'd do better than me… and I'm not hitting you, stupid."

"HISAGI, REMOVE THIS STUPID THING FROM ME!!!"

"Can't you bind his mouth too for a while?!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You shouldn't have picked a fight, Kira-fukutaichou…" Unohana said as she healed his wound.

"I didn't pick it, he started it!"

"Shut up, Izuru, you responded!"

"He was insulting her! You'd have done the same…"

"I know, but you shouldn't have. You knew that if you did, he'd get angrier and he'd kick your ass."

"You're done, Kira-fukutaichou." Unohana said, patting his shoulder. "I'll go and talk to Ukitake-san about this thing, and have a little talk with Hitsugaya-taichou, but please don't push yourself a lot… may I trust you to check on him, Hisagi-fukutaichou?"

"Of course, don't worry."

"Thank you very much." Kira said, to both of them.

The black haired woman walked away, and both of them shivered.

"Scary…" Izuru whispered, a little frightened. "Even if he beat the crap out of me, I hope he doesn't get Unohana on her nerves…"

"Heh, if she does, let's better get running before she rages out, you never know."

"Shuuhei… I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"You're always hearing me whine and sob about everything… not only that, but you also had to protect me today from getting killed… I'm so stupid, seriously. Moreover, useless..,"

"Don't say that, idiot, you're not useless."

"Uh, well… then tell me what am I useful for. Nothing, I tell you."

"You're not useless… at least not for me."

"What do you mean."

"I mean…" Hisagi sighed, placing both of his arms around Kira's neck, who seemed to be surprised a little. "…I need you."

"W-what?"

"I need you. I really like you, Izuru." He smiled against the blonde mane, as he felt Izuru's arms curling around his body. "That's why I'll always be there for you."

"Shuuhei…"

"I know this is stupid, I mean, we're both guys and everything, but… I've longed to tell you that for a long time. Back when Ukitake-taichou accidentally bind us together, and for a moment I felt like having you in my arms… it felt so great, much more greater than the warmth of any woman I've been with…" Hisagi smiled after backing away from Kira. "You're really amazing, Izuru."

"To be truth… I have been wanting to hear it. And from no one else than you."

"You serious?"

Izuru nodded shyly.

"For some odd reason, I needed no admiration from anyone else than from you. No matter how much people praised me or congratulated me, if you didn't say anything, it wasn't worth it… I'm so glad you said it, Shuu… Thank you."

"Izuru… you do know what I meant with this, right?" Shuuhei asked, a little unsure the blonde had got at all that he had just confessed to him, due to the fact Izuru was as open as a clam with his emotions and he immediately closed to others when he felt insecure about something.

The third division fukutaichou laughed slightly, fisting one hand on Shuuhei's hair and leaning closer to him, crashing his thin lips against his. Shuuhei was a little shocked at first, but then he smiled and bit Izuru's bottom lip so he'd open his mouth. There was a small lingering of the Agar-agar jelly he had eaten earlier that afternoon, and also a salty taste of tears that had rolled down his cheeks and had got lost on his mouth.

"You seriously think I wouldn't get it at first?" Izuru muttered softly, sending a shiver down Shuuhei's spine after they broke the kiss gasping for air. "Please, I've been by your side for so much time I'm quite used to your rhetoric… and I'm getting poetic once more, right?"

Both men laughed slightly, sharing a kiss one more time.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"So…?"

"What?"

"We won!"

"I'm amazed to say this, but yes, you did, Iba-san. Anyway, don't sing victory yet, there's still another challenge."

"I put my money on Yumichika." Renji said, frowning.

"Shut up Abarai. It's obvious it was not Ayasegawa, neither Madarame." Iba said, frowning.

"Do you have somebody in mind?" Nanao asked, and Iba nodded.

"Your henchwomen, actually."

"What?!"

"Kusajishi and Matsumoto, of course!!!"

"They can't be." Nanao stated, shaking her head. "Yachiru heard it from Yumichika and Matsumoto heard it just after Yachiru talked about it."

"Then who told Yumi about it?" Renji asked, and the three vice-captains stared at each other. Nanao frowned, noticing she was quite outnumbered.

"It's on, we're winning this!"

"Oh, you think so, Tetsu-chan?" Nanao teased, smirking.

"Of course, Nanao-chan…" He responded on the same tone she had used, and smirked as well. Renji just shivered in fear.

"Let the best one win, dear."

"So be it!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Yachiru, I need your help." Nanao said, reaching the petite girl that was hanging from Kenpachi's shoulder once more.

"What's up, Nanao-chan?"

"Iba won the second challenge. We need to win or we're having trouble."

"What's goin' on here?!" Kenpachi asked her lieutenant, and she just smiled, hopping down from his shoulder.

"Nothing! We're just playing with Tetsu-chan, Ken-chan, don't worry!!"

"Uh? Iba? This is your idea, isn't it, Ise?" Kenpachi asked.

"Sort of. But we need money, so we're getting it at all costs."

"Need any help?"

"You should be helping them, in fact, Ken-chan" Yachiru said cheerfully. "If we win, we're whoring you too!"

"Zaraki-Taichou, please, I beg you to hide all her manga starting tomorrow…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The pink haired girl was now being carried on Shunsui's broad back as he escorted Nanao around the ball room searching for Matsumoto, but she seemed to have disappeared, god knows where to. Making a wild guess, Nanao knew it'd be with a certain silver haired man to a really dark place where nobody could find them…

"Here they are!!!"

"YACHIRU!!"

"Rangiku-chan, you're a pervert…"

"Shut up, Nanao! I have my rights!"

"Does this means we're not gonna be drinking buddies anymore, Ran-chan?!"

"SHUT UP, TAICHOU, WHY DID YOU COME ALONG ANYWAYS?!" Nanao shouted, placing her head over his shoulder so she wouldn't look at Rangiku and Gin sharing a quite compromising pose inside the closet.

"We were just kissing!" Rangiku said after Gin helped her up and the man fixed the tie around his neck.

"Ehmm… I'll leave ya for a while so… ehmm… see ya later, Ran…" Gin excused himself, kissing her cheek slightly.

"Awww! You look really cute!" Yachiru said, jumping from Shunsui's shoulders to Matsumoto's neck.

"What happened?! You stopped my make out time, it better be good!"

"You didn't saw what happened with your captain?!"

"After Unohana-taichou got there I lost interest."

"You didn't notice Ukitake-taichou 'accidentally' bind Shuuhei to Izuru?!"

"Yes, I did."

"Did you notice Shuuhei took the later to Unohana so she'd heal Izuru's wounds? And she left them all alone?!"

"Yeah… so what?!"

"SHUUHEI AND KIRA, YOU IDIOT!"

"… OH MY GOD, DID THEY…?!"

"YEAH! IBA-SAN WON THE CHALLENGE!!!"

"NO! For real?! I wanted to win that one…"

"Focus! We still have to figure out who invented the rumor!"

"Oh, right!"

"Well… everybody's pointing it was Yumichika, but I'm not quite sure. Iba, on the other hand, thinks it were you."

"It was truth we talked about privately." Rangiku said, thinking about it. "One day you went out earlier to deliver your papers from your division. We were checking the proposals from this year's top 10 and the couples… and I remember I read somewhere that somebody postulated them as a couple…"

"Why didn't you told me?!"

"Because we didn't take it serious! First of all, because I don't remember the paper had a name."

"No name? it was anonymous?!"

"Not quite." Yachiru said. "I remember I had seen that handwriting before, I just can't remember… the most weird thing it was it only postulated boy with boy couples…" Yachiru stated.

"Somebody has a cliché fetish here!!" Matsumoto said.

"I'm amazed you know the meaning of those words."

"You really think too little of me, don't you?!"

"Of course… and by the way, your dress is falling."

"Oh, Jesus!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"AYASEGAWA!!"

"Oh, god, what now?!"

Iba ran down to the effeminate man and grabbed the collar of his shirt, but his lover stepped between them and made Iba let go of him.

"Calm down, Iba-san…" Ikkaku growled, glaring daggers at him.

"Oh, I forgot you were also here…" Yumichika didn't say anything, but on the moment he felt Ikkaku's protective arm around his shoulder, he smiled at first and then he pushed him.

"I'm not made of porcelain, don't overdo it… what do you want?"

"Did you started the rumor about Hisagi and Kira, Yumi?" Renji asked, and Ikkaku glared at him, but one of Yumichika's thin hands interposed between the red head and the bald man for kicking each other. "I'm sorry to be pointing at you, but everything says you're the one who…?"

"Who do you think you are?! Sherlock Holmes?!"

"Calm down, Ikkaku. Just so you know, Renji, it wasn't me. I overheard it from another conversation, and I deduced myself it was truth. I told Ikkaku about it, about what I thought was happening between them and I suppose somebody else heard it as well and misunderstood the information. I just heard they were postulated for something together, and started to make my own theories, and spoke about them, but nothing more. Anyway, why would I want to start something about them? They're my friends, I'd not do that!!"

"Oh… Uhmm… I guess we can call this off, don't you think, Iba-san?"

"Yeah… anyway, who did you heard this over?"

"From Matsumoto and Fukutaichou, actually."

"That just leaves all my doubts clear… it were them!!"

"But they didn't start it." Renji pointed out. "As far as Yumi told us, there seems that they were reading some postulations, god knows what for, but being those two and Ise-san the heads of the association, their opinions are to be considered at last…"

"You know too much of their methods, don't you think?" Ikkaku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Believe me, you don't want to know how I know all of this…"

To everybody's surprise, Yumichika laughed out loud.

"I bet it has something to do with Captain Kuchiki, doesn't it?!"

Renji glared at him and sighed, then he turned his back to the three other men and started to think about the situation on his own. It had not been Yumichika, so all the suppositions moved over Yachiru and Rangiku now, but the matter of fact was they were only checking their business. So, to find out, they'd have to steal their paperwork and check who had postulated Hisagi and Kira for something, and exactly for what… it must have been a seriously degenerated mind to do that, anyway, but the problem was the paperwork was inside their meeting room, in Soul Society, and they needed to win the challenge as soon as possible. For fact, the one who had given the list was a woman. A degenerated woman… it all pointed to Matsumoto, but before she knew Gin was still alive, both Shuuhei and Izuru were her principal suitors… so there's no way she'd let them go so easily. Renji was seriously over thinking the things a little bit too much, but those photos were worth it. Not only that, the red headed felt he was getting close to something.

"Nemu!" Renji said, slamming his closed fist against his open palm.

"What?" the other three asked, who were fighting and screaming to each other once again.

"I bet it was Nemu!"

"Your only working neuron has just died, didn't it?"

"No, no, it's a wild guess, but I have a feeling about it!"

"Shall we ask Akon to find out?"

"Yer joking, right?! The guy has just betrayed us!!!"

"What do you mean?!"

Iba pointed at the spot where the Twelve Division members were sitting in front of each other sharing a passionate French kiss, being practically assassinated with just glares by the female's father, who was staring at them from the back of the room.

"Oh, he gave in…"

"Never mind, they had taken control over his mind…we have to focus on how to find the…"

"I tell you, it's Nemu!"

"It can't be her! She's really sweet, why would she do something like that?!"

"Because it must have been a twisted woman the one who started the rumor if it was based on one of their reports. Matsumoto is out of the list because she'd not give up on them, and well… just look at her father!!! Don't you think…? They have the same genes, what do you know?!"

"… when you put it like that, it makes a bit of sense… the problem would be Mayuri would be as well a suspect."

"Ok, so that's a no. Let's keep searching."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"As a wild guess, I'd say Nemu." Matsumoto said after the three women had gotten away from the crowd and had started to analyze the situation carefully.

"Why would you do that?" Yachiru asked, swinging herself back and forth, still hanging from Shunsui's neck.

"Why is he here? Aren't you supposed to be part of their association?!"

"Noooo, I gave up on it for helping my Nanao-chan."

"You'd not get any naked Nanao pics if you help us."

"I need no pictures!" Shunsui said slyly, and Nanao slapped him with all her might.

"You'd get whored!" Yachiru squealed.

"I have no problem with that…"

"Then stop being useless and give us ideas."

"Seriously, I have none."

"As always." Nanao sighed, fixing her glasses and staring at Matsumoto. "Why do you think it's Nemu?"

"Think about this! Who's the only social retard who would postulate couples that don't make any sense?! It was not because she wanted, but because she didn't understand the rules. She might have been so busy with work she might have forgotten to write her name on the form, who knows. But Nemu is clumsy enough to do something like that!"

"She's not retarded."

"Of course she's not, but she has no freaking idea about men! And before I saw her giving Akon that French kiss, I seriously thought she didn't even know what a hug was… so she's a love-tard."

"You're hopeless… but you might be right, worse of all."

"Worst case scenario, if it's Nemu, what should we do?!" Yachiru asked, placing Shunsui's bow hat over her pink hair and tilting it to the left.

"That's another good question…" Matsumoto said, scratching her chin as she caught Gin with her teal eyes walking behind a pested Tousen, who seemed to be about to punch him right in the middle of the face. "In given case, we do what we know best: Show off in front of Iba-san, nothing less."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"NEMU!" Several voices screamed at the same time, scaring the Shinigami. Reluctantly, she pulled away from her new acquired boyfriend, and stared at an angry Iba, a confused Renji, a diverted Yachiru hanging from a spaced out Shunsui, a stoic Nanao and a distracted Matsumoto standing, the six of them right in front of her.

"Wh-what's wrong?!"

"You started the rumor!!" Both Nanao and Iba screamed, making Nemu to jump. "WHAT?! HOW DID YOU…?! YOU!" Both screamed at each other and then pointed at Shunsui. "YOU TOLD THEM, DON'T YOU?!"

"No, no! I've been impartial the whole day, no!"

"Then… how?"

"We guessed out, because Nemu would be the only one to fill a report like that!" Nanao said.

"Renji shot a wild guess out of a similar proposition!"

"You guys are just a bunch of chimps aiming for a banana, you're not winning!!!"

"And you're a bunch of evil snakes creeping for mice!!! Neither are you!"

"You two sound like an old, married couple…"

"SHUT UP, MATSUMOTO!" Both Nanao, Iba and even Shunsui screamed, the last one most likely worried it might become true.

"I… It wasn't me…" Nemu said a little scared.

"…You weren't?!"

"No, you dumbasses, she wasn't!" a kinky voice groaned behind their back. "Unfortunately and with no intention, it was me."

"KUROTSUCHI TAICHOU?!" everybody screamed in fear.

"Uhmm… yeah. It's Nemu's fault!" He said, pointing at her. "Earlier that day, I had given her some sheets that included possible candidates for a secret experiment that needed to be done with male couples, and she mixed them with her stupid association report, so she delivered my experiment list and gave her report to me! You caused a lot of trouble, you idiot!" He said, slamming a fist softly onto her head. Nemu didn't even flinch, she just blushed a little.

"May I ask… what was that experiment about?!" Renji asked, frightened.

"Do you understand the meaning of secret, Abarai?!"

Renji gulped.

"Anyway… well… I highly recommend all of you, be it female or male not to have any… intercourse or close interaction, there might be unexpected results. That would be if by chance you ate one of the cookies Nemu delivered past week."

"…THE FUCK?!" Matsumoto's voice screamed, pointing at Mayuri. "What do you mean 'Nemu delivered'?! You're telling us you used us as guinea pigs for your batshit insane experiments?!

That's illegal!!!"

"Yeah, well, you liked the cookies, don't you, Matsumoto-fukutaichou?"

"Youuuuu…!!! You sabotaged us!!!" Rangiku screamed, pointing at Nemu.

"Hold on…" Nanao's suddenly shocked voice interrupted.

"What's wrong?"

"If, by mere accident, Nemu started the rumor due to the fact she confused the papers… and Kurotsuchi-Taichou was the one who told us about this… does that means…?"

"What are you talking about, Ise?!"

"He's from neither your side or ours."

"So this is…"

"A DRAW!"


	12. I Found a Reason

**_A/N: LONG ASS CHAPTER, CONTAINS IMMENSE AMOUNT OF FLUFF AND SHOUNEN-AI BITS, YOU HAD ALREADY BEEN ADVICED!!_**

_On other news, I had another sucky week. I just... need sleep and a long session of Japanese class that takes my stress away xD  
Thank this week's Bleach episode that cointained what my crazy brain wanted to take as ShuuIzu and IkkaYumi goodies, or I might never be able to finish this monster._

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**I Found a Reason

* * *

**

"Everyone!!!" Urahara's voice screamed after the commotion of Iba's and Nanao's bet was a little settled down, now noticing both associations would have to bear the punishment, and a little of a rage rampage coming from Hisagi and Kira knowing they had been the betting point without even noticing. "It's about midnight!!! Let's make a toast, I'd like to tell a few words before the bells start ringing!"

Everybody started to move around as several cups and glasses were passed across the room, until the point everybody had a drink on their hands, even Yachiru, who was a little excited since it was the first time Kenpachi ever let her drink anything that contained alcohol… In fact it hadn't, but Yachiru didn't have to know that, right?

"First of all… since Yama-san is not here and I'm the owner of this place, that's the reason I'm giving out these words. I would like to thank whoever we believe in, for being able to reunite us all here, for being able to settle down all the doubts, insecurities and remorse we might have had against each others. Thanks to it, some of us are able to meet again. Others are meeting new friends. Some are just spending time with the ones they love. Either way, I'm thankful this year we all are here together, making this toast for the next year to be much better than the past one. The war is finally over, that's enough reason to celebrate, to laugh, to smile once more. For a new year to come, let it be better!"

"Let it be better!" All the voices echoed Urahara's words, making the blonde scientist to smile widely.

Afterwards, several clinking could be heard and some people rushed to the bar, since it was now open. Out of sudden in the momentary silence that was settled in the room, several random toasts started.

"For Shinigami!!"

"No, no, you idiot!!! For Vizards!!!"

"Screw you guys!!! FOR SPARTA!!"

"Shut up, Renji!!"

"Yeah, for Renji-sama too!!!"

Right after, they waited for the bells to start to ring. Some people who were already with somebody gathered with their partners, some others rushed to the bar and started to drink like there would be no tomorrow.

Urahara smiled as he held Yoruichi in a tight hug, waiting for the last bell to ring so he'd be able to kiss her lips once more.

"Can I ask you something?" Yoruichi said, cupping his face.

"What is it?"

"What's keeping you off of your sleep? You look so tired."

"Heh, it'd be over soon. That's if I don't get somewhat poisoned"

Both of them chuckled, as the blonde rested his forehead against hers.

"So Soifon is the one keeping you awake all this time? I might get jealous, you know?"

"Don't be silly. It's you."

"Me? Why?"

"Would you let me take you somewhere else?"

"But…"

"To a place only I can let you in? would you come with me?"

"Yes, but…"

"Shh…"

The woman's vision suddenly started to get blurry. She felt like if she was fainting, but she was perfectly conscious and fine before her lover had silenced her, still, she felt his touch around her waist, and she was surely clinging from his coat.

"Open your eyes, Yoruichi…" He said, and she did as he commanded. Her eyelashes batted as her eyes got used to the light that was now surrounding them. It was not the ballroom anymore, instead it looked like the rough training grounds they had back on Soul Society.

"Kisuke… how did you…?"

"We're still on the earth, sweet."

"Isn't this Soul Society?"

"No. It's here." Kisuke got apart from her just some inches and pointed at his own heart.

"Your inner word?"

"Precisely."

"It looks exactly the same…"

"It is because both were adapted to look like each other."

"Is she here?"

"Who're you searching for, woman?" A cold, cruel voice asked, and on the blink of an eye, there was her. Benihime was standing right behind Kisuke, with her thin pale arms around him. Her crimson hair had fallen elegantly over her face, and she was curling the Shingami's golden locks.

"Hi, Benihime." Kisuke said, caressing his sword spirit's cheek softly.

"Why did you bring her here, Kisuke?"

"We've talked about it, haven't we?"

"I never thought you were serious about it."

"Don't you like the idea?"

"Not really. I always thought I was the only woman in your life."

"Dead wrong, Hime."

"Che! You're an ass."

"What are you two talking about?"

"Let's say this quickly… Hime, would you do the honors?"

"You're useless… can't you do them yourself?"

"Shinigami tradition, now do it!"

The spirit sighed, stepping away from Kisuke. She dragged out her sword that was a replica from Urahara's. She pointed it towards the sky and closed her eyes.

"Sing, Benihime." Kisuke ordered, and the spirit swung her sword in a semi circle down to the ground. From the tip of it a bright red light had started to emerge and Yoruichi could tell it was an stylized version of Chikasumi no Tate, as the spirit sang a sad melody to match her movements. She started to move, as if she was doing some kind of dance around them, until they were surrounded by the crimson shield, and Benihime was no longer visible.

"…Kisuke?"

"Shihoin Yoruichi…?" From the top of the shield, a red satin box was falling onto his hands. Immediately after he caught it, he kneeled in front of her. "Would you marry me?"

Everything that they had been saying, or more likely to be said, everything that Kisuke had been doing since months ago, that looked more odd than usual, suddenly made sense. Too much sense it was scary.

But she didn't even think about it twice.

"YES!!!"

She hugged him and the inner world of Kisuke's Zanpakuto vanished, leading them once more to the dance floor where they were originally supposed to be.

"Yes, I'll marry you! Yes!"

And so, the first bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Gah, That idiot's gonna kill himself." Ichigo muttered, making Rukia to turn around to find Renji hanging dangerously from the table he was drinking. "The bar just opened and he's already acting like a monkey."

"He's exaggerating, he has a quite large hold on booze. He just wants to drag attention."

"How lame."

"I don't blame him, actually."

"Why?"

"He might be realizing he might either be a bachelor for life or become gay. I guess neither of the options make him very happy, don't you think?"

Ichigo laughed out loud, nodding. Rukia frowned at him, and shook her head on disproval.

"Don't laugh, you idiot! You'd be on the same situation if I hadn't…"

"Rukia, I'm on my teens. Renji is like… 150."

"I am almost his age…"

"But you're way to different…"

"You know you have necrophilia tendencies, Ichigo?"

"I'd say I do… but now noticing Urahara cut my chain of fate, that'd mean I'm dead as well, isn't it?"

"You're just… weird."

"Oh, well, thanks!"

"No, I mean… sure you're dead. You're a Captain-level Shinigami with no previous education at all. You're half hollow, but we cannot purify your soul. You have that mask… yet, you still have an human heart."

Rukia placed both of her hands on his shoulders, making the boy to lean down a little. Ichigo sighed. Nobody else than Rukia could make this confusion about himself sound so good it actually seemed quite nice. He smiled against her black hair after ruffling it with his left hand and shut his eyes to enjoy the closeness of their relationship for a little while.

"I really want to know what you are about." She muttered, after a prorogated silence.

The first bell rang, and Ichigo smiled, leaning down to her once more.

"If they don't kill me first, I'm glad to say we have the rest of eternity to do that, don't you think?"

Rukia smiled, as she stood on her toes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

And so, the second bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Please, stop it." Akon begged, placing a hand between his and Nemu's lips after a long hour of sharing kisses. For being both such social retards, Nemu knew how to give delicious kisses.

"You got bored? We can do something else."

"That's not it."

"Then what's it?" She asked with no emotions in her words.

"Look, I feel quite guilty." Akon sighed, lowering his hand slowly with his fingers curling into a fist that showed he was quite angry at himself. He screwed his eyes, so his gaze wouldn't meet hers while they talked. "You're not supposed to feel. The way Kurotsuchi-taichou programmed you wasn't meant to develop emotions. This would never work, Nemu."

She remained emotionless, and didn't complain about what Akon said. To his surprise, she sighed after a long silence that had fallen between them. She drank a little from the cup she had just received after Urahara's toast, and looked directly at Akon's black eyes.

"Just because I'm artificially created, just because I'm not completely human, that doesn't mean I have no heart. I do have feelings. Though most of them are new to me." Nemu muttered, placing her hand over his. "I just haven't learned how to express them."

Akon blinked twice in disbelief. He felt like a jerk for telling her something so horrible like that, even if she didn't look hurt in the minimum, she just kept a stoic, emotionless expression on her face, no one would never know what Nemu was thinking.

The first bell rang, and he sighed. He was a real, enormous idiot.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean it like that." He said as the second bell rang, and then he closed the gap between them, kissing her once more, not caring if Mayuri would _actually _remove the horns on his forehead with a pair of pincers like he had threatened him on the past if he ever made a move on his precious experiment. Wanting to admit it or not, Mayuri did care for Nemu. The reasons might be doubtful, possibly more because if Nemu were to get hurt or die, he'd lost his main source of human research, or possibly as a father would care for a daughter…

No, it definitely was not the second one.

And so, the third bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You look worried."

"I am, a little." The woman said, fixing her glasses. "It's just… I feel a little bad for him."

"It's not your fault, Nanao-chan…"

"Don't call me that, Taichou, how much do I have to tell you?"

He hugged her from behind resting his chin on her head, and she just sighed, placing both of her hands over his arms.

"But you're my Nanao-chan, aren't you?"

Nanao sighed again as she saw Iba drinking directly from a bottle of rum besides Renji, who had already lost his tie and the jacket of the suit Ichigo had gladly lent him. It was possibly bursting into flames in the bathroom, she knew…

"Heh, it's funny."

"What?"

"You seem to hate him so much, but you care a lot for Tetsuzaemon-san."

"He is an idiot, that's a fact. But he's one of my closest friends, I can't deny it. Not only that, but… he had always been there for me."

"Ah, you had fallen hard for him…"

"That's not it. You can't love two people at the same time."

"That's right."

Nanao turned around to face her captain, and to her amusement, he was smiling quite sadly.

"Don't say such things. I do love you, Taichou."

"But never as much as you'd ever love that man. Go with him."

Nanao shook her head, and hugged him tightly.

"Don't. Just… don't." she said, almost sounding angry. "You're the one who's more confused than I am. Just because of Lisa-san, don't you? If you want to leave me so you can go with her, go. But please don't make me do what my heart doesn't want!"

"I… I don't want to go either."

"Then don't make me leave you just because you can't love two people at the same time, Shunsui."

Kyouraku sighed, digging his curvy nose on Nanao's hair, smelling the fainting scent of liquorices. He had never been fond of sweets if they didn't come with sake, but her scent was as addicting as the liquor, if not more.

Kyouraku then leaned down a little, grabbing her chin so he could tilt her head and placed a teasing, small and delicate kiss on her lips, like if she were to break if he kissed her too fast or too roughly, even though he knew his lieutenant was not that weak.

"You're right… I love you, Nanao."

And so, the fourth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"It seems he's winning the bet, isn't he?"

"Leave it like it is, Retsu-san. We're not playing anymore."

"I heard it all." She said, smiling with a scary smirk. "When you betted. And I want to see you both drunk dancing on your underwear, you better not lose, neither win, Juushiro."

Ukitake gulped, scratching the spot where a certain blonde Arrancar kid had stabbed right through his chest months ago. If things ever got to work between them, he might as well never make Unohana angry, or he'd rather be stabbed one hundred times on the same spot before he received the divine punishment under the woman's rage rampage.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked, placing her hands over his chest to soothe the pain a little with her thin hands.

"It itches, but it doesn't hurt." Juushiro smiled, taking both of her hands. "You worry way too much, calm down, I'm fine."

"I care about you. I wouldn't like to see you in danger, or more screwed than you already are."

"You make me sound like a wussy, Retsu."

"Oh, you want to pick a fight?"

"Ok, you'd totally beat the crap out of me, but please, bear with me!"

"I'm sure once you train and adapt your body, you'll be way stronger than Shunsui. Your only weakness was your sickness, mostly. You'll do a great work, honey."

"Stronger than Kyouraku, NEVER than you."

"Of course you wouldn't, don't be silly."

"Oh, thanks!"

"I'm being realistic."

"Come on!!! you don't think that… maybe in two or three more centuries we'll be as strong as you are now?"

She giggled, covering her mouth with her fingers.

"Yeah, you wish."

Ukitake laughed, and then he noticed Unohana had been playing with his ponytail quite amazed by some odd reason.

"What's wrong?"

"I wonder if it'll ever get a normal color."

"Uh?"

"Since the first time we met, you'd always had white hair, because of your illness. I never knew which color was it at first."

"…that's true." Ukitake glanced away, trying to remember of which color it was, but he couldn't find anything in his memories that told him precisely which color was it. "I can't remember!" He said, slapping his forehead, and both of them laughed.

"Well, it doesn't matter." Unohana muttered, losing the ponytail so his hair would flow naturally around his face. "I love it the way it is."

He felt a large blush on his cheeks right at the same moment the bells started to ring.

Clumsily, he leaned down to reach for her mouth and kiss her, but she laughed slightly.

"You're supposed to wait until the last bell rings, Juushiro!"

"I've waited long enough… don't ask me to wait anymore, Retsu."

And so, the fifth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They were sitting in front of each other, the white haired boy much more calmer than he had been before, but he was quite worried for his female friend. She looked less cheerful than before, and not only that, but her eyes were incredibly sad for Hinamori being such a cheerful girl.

"What's the matter?" He asked, trying to look cool.

"Nothing."

"Come on, you can tell me!"

"No, you're just gonna tell I'm a crybaby, that I should get over it already." She said, smiling and giggling sadly.

"It has something to do with _him_, right?" Toushiro asked, not looking at her, but knowing precisely who she was thinking about. Bringing the name to their conversation would only make it harder.

"How did you…?"

"I know you well enough, Hinamori."

"Well, yeah."

"What was it this time? Is it the presence of those two making you feel awkward? If you want I'll walk you home…"

"Never mind, the real thing is about to start, Shiro-chan… and they have nothing to do, actually. I just… remembered something on that last song we danced."

"You and Kira?"

"No, silly, you and I."

"Oh…" Toushiro frowned, if one thing he hated over all about her was her obsession with Aizen, but he hated even more than that that everything reminded her of him. Even the same Toushiro.

"That song… I guess you never knew, I never actually told you." She smiled sadly, closing her eyes so she'd not glance at him. "The year I became the fifth's lieutenant, it was the beginning of the new millennium. It was a great and big party, I remember you refused to come, so…"

"Yes, I remember" Hitsugaya admitted, glancing away from her as well so she could talk calmer.

"I remember I was alone that night, since Kira-kun had been some sort of kidnapped by Hisagi-Senpai and Abarai-kun for a long drinking session… well, anyway, I was there, sitting alone on the saloon and he came to me, and he asked me if I'd like to dance. I regret I had accepted. I regret I was placed as his lieutenant. I regret everything since that year."

Toushiro turned around, he had never heard her so sad and yet so pissed about it. She was frowning and her fists were shaking slightly; the white haired boy glanced at her and then he sighed, grabbing her hand.

"Calm down. It's over." He removed his own coat and placed it over her shoulders. "Come, let's go for a walk, being with too much people is quite uncomfortable…"

Hinamori nodded and they walked out of the shop onto the empty and lonely street. The night sky was completely splattered with shining stars and a bright, smiling moon on the middle, covered by light clouds that weren't menacing of bringing rain within them, neither snow. Yet, that didn't mean the weather was warm enough, because the girl, even with the warmth of his coat and her pink sweater was trembling a little.

Toushiro sat on the street and patted the floor besides him so she'd sit with him. She smiled and sat, and then he surrounded her with one arm.

"Shiro-chan?"

"You're cold…"

"But you're not precisely warm, Shiro-chan…" She said, smiling. "Thanks anyway." Afterwards, she rested her head on his shoulder, making him sight a little.

"That wasn't the worst part."

"What?"

"While dancing with that idiot… I felt like I've never felt before. Just now… while dancing with you, Shiro-chan… It quite felt the same." Toushiro remained silent, watching her by the corner of his eyes, a little disturbed by her words. "But being with you was much more better. That's why I'm afraid."

"You're afraid?"

Hinamori sighed and at the same moment, the bells of midnight started to ring.

"I'm afraid I might end up losing you as well."

"Don't even think about it. I'll always be here, no matter what!"

Hinamori smiled, and then she leaned a little closer to the white haired boy, kissing the corner of his lips slightly. Toushiro immediately backed away from her, a bit surprised as the bells still rang.

"What was it?!"

Hinamori pointed up, and Toushiro looked.

"Mistletoe."

And so, the sixth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Guys, you're supposed to kiss on the last bell, not on each…"

"It'd not be as interesting, Renji."

"But he's right, we might as well wait, Ikkaku."

"Shut up and kiss me, Yumi..." Ikkaku muttered as the third bell rang, placing a fierce kiss over his lover's lips, nibbling and biting wildly. Yumichika tangled his thin arms around Ikkaku's neck, and moaned his name as the older Shinigami made him lean against the table.

"GUYS, GUYS, GET A ROOM!!" Renji screamed, standing up as they glared at him after parting their kiss, like if they were about to kill him. "Don't look at me like that! You're practically doing it in the middle of the open bar!!! There are kids here!!" He said, pointing at the Kurosaki sisters, who were strolling around the ballroom in search for either their father or their brother. The brunette glared at Renji and took her sibling's hand, who looked a bit dazzled and walked away.

"There are no more kids around, can we keep up?" Yumichika asked, as another bell rang, and completely ignoring Renji's arguments, they kissed once more, this time more tenderly than before.

The sixth division lieutenant just rolled his eyes and walked away to where Byakuya was, drinking Champaign with Matsumoto and Ichimaru, now noticing those two were a lost cause.

"Hold it…" Yumichika begged, placing a hand between the two of them. "Renji's right We're going too fast, Ikkaku."

"Too fast? You've been waiting half a century for this, don't tell me we're going too fast…"

"But you've been waiting for just three days. We're, indeed, going too fast."

"Come on! we're from the eleventh! We do things fast, but good! Just…"

"No. this is different. Some things are battles, some other things are relationships, please don't fuse them!"

"Yumi… what's the difference? You can't tell me love isn't a battle we're supposed to win."

"It's… it's different!"

"No, it's not. I'd die for my pride in battle. I'd die for my pride in love. I'd die for you at any time, Yumi."

Yumichika laughed on a silly way, resting his forehead on Ikkaku's shoulder.

"Friends would do the same for each other, that's why it's not the same…"

"You're saying that what I just told you is a lie?"

"No, not actually. It's just the way you say it… it makes me think you're right, you enormous idiot…"

"Ain't I?"

"I can't say no. But if this is indeed a battle…" Yumi whispered, raising his head and placed a quick but passionate kiss on Ikkaku's lips. "I want to enjoy every minute it lasts, so it better be the longest battle I've ever fought. If it hurts, I want to feel the pain as it comes… If I go alive out of this, I want to taste victory every moment I'm with you. That's why I want to go slow. I want this to be the best battle we've ever had."

"Heh… you also make it sound way too good… I promise you it'll be."

"You better."

At the same moment, Renji watched from another table, a little amazed of how Yumichika was actually able to get a hold on his lover. He was so intrigued he hadn't even noticed Rangiku and Ichimaru had gone away to dance a slow piece, leaving him alone with his captain. When Renji turned around, he immediately noticed the absence of the couple, and he couldn't help but to smile at his captain.

"The loners of the night, ain't we?"

"Somewhat… I don't feel that lonely" Byakuya answered, not glancing at his subordinate.

"You don't?"

"You're a great company. You don't talk too much, and you're drinking quite calmly. When you talk you don't say stupid things… you're interesting."

Renji noticed he was blushing a little, thankfully, neither his tattoos or his skin tone let Byakuya notice about it.

"Thanks." He said, a little uneasy. "You're great as well, Taichou."

"Renji?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for not leaving me alone tonight."

"Will you ever be able to forgive me? What do I have to do for you?"

"It's not what you have to do, it's what you did"

"I already said why I did it. If I could, I'd have told you. You're my best friend, after all."

"I'm not the only one you left behind, neither the only one who trusted you."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing… you can't do anything. Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Promise me you'll never make me want to kill you."

Tousen smiled, leaning down to where his canine friend was sitting, caressing the fur of his forehead cheerfully.

"It's a promise. Next time, if I make you angry, kill me as dead as you can, Komamura."

"…next time?" the canine captain reacted to his sentence quite late. "What are you planning now, Kaname?!"

"Well… let's say the Hollow Kensei thought he killed is not as dead as he could be…"

"The blonde who almost killed Ukitake-san?! You've got to be kidding…"

"Let's just say… he's a sneaky brat…"

"I'm going to kill you, Tousen!"

"Yeah, I missed you too, Sajin."

And so, the seventh bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Just so you know" Rangiku said, as her fingers twirled around Gin's silver hair. "This doesn't mean I have forgiven you yet."

"I know. I'll try to make it up for ya somehow."

"…Gin?"

"Yeah?"

"How do I know all of this isn't just one of your tricks? You're the most changing person I've ever known, I can't tell anymore. I thought I knew you."

"Ya do know me, at least best than everybody else here."

"Even better than your own ex-lieutenant?"

"Izuru? Oh, come on, the boy was under my service just for one decade, it's not the same as a whole century, Ran-chan…"

"I know, but… you hurt him as well. You should talk to him later, dear."

"I'll try… if ya let me go."

"I won't let you go anymore. I don't want to lose you again."

"Ran-chan… ya know after all of this is over, I can't go back to Sereitei, don't cha?"

"I know. But I won't let go."

"What are ya implying? Quitting as a Shinigami?" Matsumoto nodded, burying her face on his jacket. Gin caressed her golden locks of hair as he sighed, shaking his head. "Don't do that."

The woman looked up to meet his eyes, that were slightly open, and his creepy smile was nowhere to be seen.

"Why?"

"Ya know it's forbidden for ya to quit."

"Kurosaki-Taichou did. Why can't I?"

"Yer powers will be sealed. Not only that, but ya will never be able to go back."

"I don't mind. I wanna be with you, Gin."

Gin shook his head again, this time, he buried his nose on her hair, and sniffed the evanescent smell of strawberry she always used to have.

"Don't rush yerself, Ran-chan… we'll make this out. I promise I won't leave ya 'gain…"

"I hope you keep that promise." She said, leaning closer and nibbling his bottom lip softly. Gin's smile reappeared, and he closed his eyes immediately, embracing her tighter.

"I'll do my best."

And so, the eighth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"THAT BASTARD! LET ME KILL HIM!!"

"Calm down, Hiyori!"

"No, no!!! I'm gonna kill that bastard!!!"

"How is it you just reacted he was here?"

"I hadn't paid attention!!! I'm gonna kill him!!"

Shinji sighed as he pulled the girl from the back of her dress to restrain her from attacking the man who had bifurcated her months ago. The petit Vizard was raging out, but the blonde one didn't care. He was sitting with the other Vizards on a table hidden on a corner, but it was not like they cared a lot. Lisa, Love, Rose and Hacchi had stopped their card game for the midnight toast, while Kensei and Mashiro were discussing about something silly as ever, and the first one had already started to drink. Meanwhile, Hiyori had been watching them play poker, that was, until she glanced at the silver haired man dancing with Matsumoto from afar. Then the sky started to fall for Shinji.

"Just shut up, snaggletooth!! You're not killing anyone here!!"

"Chop cleanly, Kubikiri…!!! EEEEEEEEGHHHHH… Shinji leave me alone!!!" She screamed at him after he interrupted her release.

Shinji stuck his tongue to her while smiling, and then he started to pull from his own skin like he used to tease her years ago.

"No, monkey girl, you better shut up and enjoy the toast, you have no permission to kill, and that's an order."

"WHO MADE YOU LEADER, HIRAKO?!"

"WHO MAD YOU LEADER, SARUGAKI?! DON'T SCREAM AT ME!!"

"You two should just kiss and make up." Rose said, as the bells started to ring.

"SHUT UP, ROSE!" Both Hiyori and Shinji screamed, glaring daggers at him.

"Better said, kiss and make out, don't you think?"

"YOU TOO, LOVE!"

"It's more than obvious there's something between you two. Just admit it already!"

"Lisa, my love, you too?!"

"I hate you, Hirako!"

"The feeling is mutual!"

"MAKE-OUT TIME!" Mashiro screamed, kicking Shinji on the back of the head, making the blonde to lean down in pain, accidentally, falling over his nemesis.

"MASHIRO, YOU DUMBASS!" Kensei screamed, grabbing her arm before she'd kick either Shinji or Hiyori once more.

"The-Heh-Heeeee!!" she giggled, hugging Kensei's neck, lifting herself from the floor.

"Agh, you little…! come, let's go before Shinji or Hiyori try to kill you!"

The white haired man and his petit green haired partner walked away, the second laughing like maniac. Love rose both eyebrows and placed a hand over Rose's shoulder, to see what had happened with Hiyori and Shinji, since they hadn't picked themselves up from the floor.

"HEY GUYS, THEY'RE MAKING OUT!!!"

And so, the ninth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" Nee, Kensei!" Mashiro said on a childish tone, as the older man carried her on his back. He rose his head backwards to look at her brown eyes, and she noticed he was frowning, so she frowned as well…

"Stop imitating me… what do you want?"

"You think Hiyori and Shinji will hate me for that?"

"No." Kensei sighed, looking down again. "No, they're already used to you, so I don't think so."

"Kensei?"

"What?"

"Do you hate me, Kensei?"

The ex-captain of the ninth division stopped walking, and he grabbed Mashiro's waist to set her down on the floor once more. He leaned down a little, and placed a hand over her hair, ruffling it lightly.

"You annoy me at times, but I don't hate you."

"Really?"

Kensei smiled, and then he nodded, placing a quick kiss on her cheek, making the younger one to blush widely.

"Really."

Lisa sighed, as she watched from afar Kensei kissing Mashiro and glanced by the corner of her eyes at Shinji and Hiyori. She also caught Ichigo hugging Rukia nearby, and Orihime dancing slowly with a black haired boy she didn't know. Afterwards, she saw Kyouraku with Nanao, and several other couples dancing around the dance floor, while she was sitting there, with three single men, without any chance to make a move. Her love life, to be simple, was a disaster.

"Depressed?"

"A little."

"Don't be! Things will be fine!"

"You say that guys, because you don't give a damn about either women or men. You two are like… asexual or something."

"No. We're heroes." Love teased, smiling widely. "So we're looking for damsels in distress."

"Well, there's one here and you can't do anything for her, so, I think we have a problem."

"You're not quite a damsel, Lisa-chan!" Rose intervened. "Damsels don't read Yaoi Doujinshis!"

"Leave me alone, you two! That's why I prefer Hacchi, he's not stupid like you two!"

"Actually, I agree with them."

"NOT YOU TOO, HACCHI!"

Rose and Love laughed, and Hacchi only chuckled, ruffling Lisa's hair slightly. The woman placed her chin over her forearm, resting her head over the table.

"There's no use. I'll stay single until the end of my days, how horrible."

"You'll find someone." Rose said, placing his left hand on her shoulder. "If not… well, we're always here, don't you think?"

"I don't like real-life threesomes, so you know…"

"No, we either. But we'll always be friends, Lisa."

Exactly after he pronounced those words he glanced at Love, who nodded lightly, and smiled widely. Both of them kissed the female Vizard on each cheek, making her blush widely.

"We'll always be here for you."

And so, the tenth bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"'Hime…" Ishida called his friend, pulling from her hand onto his body. "Something on the something… the drink ya jush gives meh…"

"I knooow, 'Ryu, I feels funny!" Orihime blabbered, holding herself from his neck so she wouldn't fall to the ground. "But I swears I didn't put anything to the drink! I meansh, Urahahahahaaaaaara-san told ush he'd give us some, but… oh mi gosh, and what if he…"

"Nuuuu, he's bushy with Yoruishhhhiii-san… anyway, it's greaaat!"

"YAY!"

"C'mon! let's dance!"

"Thresh no music anymore!"

"Who cares!!! Come, let's go to the shap!"

"The shap?! Where's das hap?"

"Upstairs!"

"There's a second floor?!! This plash is awe sum!"

The dork duo ran off, and Tatsuki and Ichigo laughed evilly.

"I just hope they remember what they did when they wake up!"

"Don't be a pervert, Ichigo! Asides from that, if anything goes wrong, remember this was your idea!"

"What could go wrong? C'mon, it's Ishida and Inoue we're talking about!"

"They're partially drugged, you idiot!"

"Oh, come on! possibly just some passionate kisses, some nibbling and a lot of touching, but you're seriously thinking they might get laid or something?!"

"Well, YEAH! Haven't you ever been drunk or something?"

"I've drank before but…"

"Not to the point you don't even remember your own name, Ichigo! They're getting there!"

"Well… in that case, I hope they use protection…"

"You're an asshole!"

"Yeah, shut up, or you and Chad are the next ones!"

"You're a dead man, Kurosaki!"

"I'm sorry. I'm already dead!"

Meanwhile, on the shop, the Quincy and the human had, as Ichigo predicted, already started kissing. The boy had sat over a forgotten and dusty box on the closet, and she had fallen over him, straddling on his lap. A bit too roughly, Uryu had fisted his hand on Orihime's hair to make the tilt her head, but she immediately knew what he wanted, so she did with no need to use strength. The girl leaned a little closer, letting a large moan escape from her lips, turning the Quincy on even more.

"Dear lord…" He gasped between kisses, as his hand slowly slipped through her leg. "You're amazing…"

"Shh… don't say anything…" she said, placing her lips on the corner of his mouth. "You're amazing too, Uryu."

"I love you so much…"

"Me too… what are we doing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"We're not even officially together…"

"We don't need to be… as long as we want to be together…" he answered, his lips still against hers, opening his eyes slightly just for a while to see her face.

"You don't' get it. We should be there, waiting for the twelfth bell to ring, as all the others…"

"How did we get here?"

"Something strange in out drinks… I guess we just… kind of sweat it off…" She said, blushing terribly. She stood up helping him up as well. "I'm really sorry! I feel like I've just abused you Hahaha!" She giggled nervously, giving him a hand he gladly took.

"Don't worry. As long as it's you, you can abuse me at anytime."

"Now the question is… who placed that thing on our drinks."

"Easy. Kurosaki."

"How do you know?"

"I have this feeling…"

"Heh… shall we go back?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Hand in hand, the sewing princess and the rain dragon started to walk their way back to the ball room, but Orihime suddenly stopped.

"Uryu?"

"Yes?"

"Let's spent more time together!" She said, placing a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth, as the lights of the room made themselves present.

And so, the eleventh bell rang.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"This feels weird…"

"I know… I've never… well, danced with a guy before. Anyway, I think I'd love to get used to this… by the way, how are you feeling?"

"Better. Thank you."

"Izuru?"

"What?"

"Is all of this making you uncomfortable?"

"No, not at all. I just feel weird I'm not taking the lead."

"Do you want to take the lead?" Shuuhei said, with all the double sense he could.

"You're a jerk, Hisagi Shuuhei."

"You still love me, don't you?"

"Love… is a really strong word, Shuu."

"Well… it's such a shame, because we're not quite cowards, are we?"

"Yeah, sure." Izuru admitted, placing his forehead against Hisagi's. "Just promise me you won't make me look like a girl. I don't' like that."

"I wouldn't mind. I like my Izuru manly or girly."

"You're a jerk."

"Yes, I am. But you worry too much about what everyone else might think of you. Just… let it all go and stay with me."

"Shuu?"

"Yes?"

"If this thing I'm feeling is love… please, never go away."

"You say this because you already lost somebody you loved, don't you?" Izuru nodded, placing his chin on his new lover's shoulder. "Just remember, I am, and fortunately, will never be Ichimaru. I'd never do what he did to you."

"Even if you were ordered to? Feelings are always below duties. That's one of our mottos, Shuuhei, we can't break them."

"I'd rather die." Shuuhei answered truthfully, caressing his long locks of golden hair. Izuru smiled tightening his grip against the other's body.

"Remember when I told you I've lost everything, that I had no other excuses to be alive if he had taken everything away from me?"

"Yeah…"

"I take back my words. After all, he wasn't able to take you away… I found a reason."

After hearing this, the older Shinigami cupped his face with one hand and kissed him. Thankfully, Kira was just five centimeters shorter, so the difference wouldn't make the blonde stand on his toes, making the embrace easier for both of them.

"Happy New Year, my love."

And so, the twelfth and last bell rang.


	13. Poker Face

_**A/N:** I'm so silly for writting this... I swear there will be a more serious song for the character I'm abusing on this one, but... I had do made him sing this. I can't stop laughing. And! Sorry for the delay, I hadn't been able to do much these days!  
Poker Face belongs to Lady GaGa_

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Poker Face

* * *

**

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The screams filled the ball room, as their artificial night sky was illuminated by fireworks Urahara was able to do with Kido spells. The ones who had gone outside the shop to stay away from the crowd, and even the little blonde Arrancar locked inside the house were watching the fire flowers lighting the sky.

Everyone was with somebody. Be it friends, be it lovers, be it family, nobody was alone that night. Even Omaeda, but… well, he was not as lucky. He had to stand a very, very pissed Captain Soifon at the moment.

"You seem jealous…"

"I am jealous, you big idiot!!!" Soifon screamed at his lieutenant, but then she breathed heavily, trying to calm herself down. "Sorry." She muttered, placing a hand over her face. "I promised myself I'd be more patient at least with you, Omaeda, but please, bear with me."

"I'm trying to be nice with you!!"

"Who asked you for it?!"

"You should! That's the reason you're single!"

"YOU ENORMOUS…!!!!" She grunted in fury, but the she calmed down again, giving her back to him. "Once again, sorry. I'll be back on a minute."

Soifon stumbled until she reached the place Kisuke was at the moment, taking the chance Yoruichi had to go to the bathroom, so she could talk to him personally.

"Urahara!"

"Oh, it's you… please, don't kill me!"

"Listen… I'm obviously angry. But she seems happy with this, so I should be happy as well. My point is, I'm giving up on this, as long as you promise me you'll make her as happy as you can!"

"Of course! You don't have to ask for that!"

"If you break this promise, I'll…"

"You have permission to try your Bankai on me at any time, until you make sure you've killed me dead enough to you pleasing, Captain Soifon."

"It's no joke. I'll kill you."

"I know. Neither I'm joking… you seriously think I'd take this whole thing as a joke? Come on, you feel exactly the same for her, Soifon, you know love ain't a joke…"

"I don't… love-love her!"

"Come on, it's more than obvious!"

"She's my mater, what would you expect?! I must take care of her!"

"To the point of stalking?!"

"I'm seriously going to kill you!!!" Soifon screamed, grabbing the hilt of Suzumebachi and dragging her large Katana out so fast Kisuke didn't even have time to react and grab Benihime to defend himself.

"You're not killing anybody." Another voice interrupted, making both Soifon and Kisuke to turn around.

"Yoruichi-sama!"

"Listen…" the older woman said, pushing her fiancée aside and leaning down onto Soifon with a large frown on her brows, one hand on her waist and the other grabbed Soifon's sword to lower it.. "You must not threaten Kisuke ever again, you understand? I'm really thankful to you, Soifon, but… there are things that cannot happen."

"Y-Yoruichi-sama… I don't know what are you talking about…" she stuttered, while sheathing her Katana once more, and afterwards, her face started to turn bright red. She was so ashamed she refused to meet her former master's eyes. "I mean, I do respect you a lot and everything, but… I think you're taking this on a totally different way, I do not…"

To both Kisuke and much more to Soifon's surprise, Yoruichi removed the hair from her forehead and placed a small kiss on it.

"I knew it all the time. And I'm thankful for all the love you ever gave me. But I cannot give it back to you, I'm really sorry."

"Th…there's no problem…" She stuttered, and afterwards a flashing smile, Yoruichi took Kisuke's hand and the couple walked away, leaving the second squad captain alone.

"Taichou!"

"Oh, it's you… what do you want?"

"Are you… are you alright?" Omaeda asked, catching up to where his superior was standing like a statue. It was quite a sad view, because he had never seen her so depressed in his whole service under her.

"Amazingly, I am. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course! What is it?!"

"You'll help me to pick up a good gift for their wedding."

Meanwhile, on another part of the dance room, where the party was about to get good, the Shinigami were already drinking like the liquor was water. The only one absent on their drinking session, to their amusement, was Matsumoto, and one that had nothing to do with the group who was there, even more amusing, was Captain Kuchiki. There were no doubts why everybody was giving both him and Renji weird glances… especially to Renji, who seemed to be as bright red as his hair, and nobody knew if it was because of the alcohol, or the fact he was sitting a little bit too close to Byakuya.

"I'd like to make another toast!"

"Shunsui, you've had too much!"

"No, I does notes!"

"Yes! You're starting to blabber!"

"Well, well… I'd like to make a toast for Juushiro to shut up!"

"I second the motion!" Kenpachi said, clinking his cup with Shunsui's.

"Yeah, Ukitake-Taichou! Let us have fun!" Renji blabbered, clinging his cup as well.

"Ah, you guys, are awful!"

"Don't mind them, sweetheart." Unohana said, twirling her fingers with his, making a large smile appear on Ukitake's face.

"Awww, guys!!! You're so lovely dovely! I'd like to make another one! This one goes for love! Love is everywhere tonight! Everybody's with somebody tonight! What a wonderful way to start a new year!"

"You're such a hippie!" Nanao said, hitting him with a folded napkin.

"Yush, but we're included in there, Nanao-chan!"

The woman grunted, refusing to look at both her captain, and Iba, who was sitting right in front of her.

"You can't deny he's right…" Unohana muttered, grabbing Ukitake's hand softly and smiling warmly. "Tonight, a lot has happened, don't you think? It's not only us, as he says, everybody seems to be with someone, be friends or lovers… even former enemies… everything seems promising for a good year to come."

"Beautiful words coming from somebody who's seen a lot of despair and suffering… and even though it seems it's going to be good, you know you'll have to be under the same situations, Unohana-Taichou." Byakuya said, sipping from his cup of champagne.

"Ohhhhhh, you're such a party pooper, Byakushi!!! You must be emo!!" Yachiru screamed, popping from behind Kenpachi's shoulder.

"Where did you learned that world?"

"Emo? Chika screams it to Izurun all the time…"

"Yumichika, you're getting those feathers off of your face in a harsh way…" Kenpachi muttered to himself, carrying the little Shinigami on his left arm and standing up from the table.

"Where are we going, Ken-chan?!" Yachiru squealed.

"To kill our fifth seat… we'll be back on five minutes, don't start without us…"

"We can't go!!!" the pink haired one screamed, jumping down and smiling evilly. "Chika and Baldie are busy!!"

"Busy?"

"YAY, THEY'RE MAKING BABIES ON THE BATHROOM!!"

A disturbing silence fell between lieutenant and captain, and everyone around them as well were unable to pronounce a single word. Yachiru giggled, trying to break the tension, but it only seemed to make it worse.

"You stay here…" Kenpachi ordered, making even the little girl shiver. He had never talked so cold to anyone, since he was really hotheaded, after all…

"Note to self… never piss him off." Ukitake stated, gulping nervously.

"Amen to that…" Kyouraku added, drinking from his cup idly. "Anyway, we were toasting before all of this started…"

"But I have a better idea!!!" Juushiro interrupted, crashing his own cup against the table cheerfully. "Let's play something!!!"

"You're such a kid, Ukitake." Byakuya said, shaking his head in disapproval. Everyone glared at him, specially Unohana. Byakuya shivered, opening his eyes wide. Renji laughed out loud… and then he shivered as well when both his captain's glare and the woman's fake smile were directed at him.

"Ehh, Uhmm, no, I didn't… sorry, taichou…" He muttered, lowering his head.

"Hahaha! Never mind, Abarai-kun! As I was saying… let's play! What about some Karaoke?!"

"Yeah!! Karaoke! That's a great idea!"

"Oh…" Byakuya muttered, lying his cheek over his hand. "Fine, more commoner's games…"

"Come on, Kuchiki!!! You're not the only noble here, we're also playing!!"

"You're comparing my family to yours?"

"Hey, you wanna pick a fight? It's two versus one… or three if Retsu-san helps… we're gonna mop the floor with you, boy…"

"Is that a dare, Kyouraku?"

"Hahaha!!! Protect your pride now, Byakuya!! But for that… you must sing!!!"

"I'm not."

"Then you're a looser." Yoruichi intervened, smiling widely. "I bet you can't even sing one verse, Byakuya-boy!"

"Shihoin Yoruichi…"

"You can't sing! You can't sing!!"

After some minutes, all the bunch of captains that were around, and a very drunk Matsumoto, were pushing the poor Kuchiki Taichou to do something embarrassing, against his will, to defend his… well, his ego.

"Fine!!!" He said in despair, drinking his whole cup carelessly. "Give me that freaking microphone and shut up! Just shut up!"

"Oh, Yay!!! Byakushi singing!!"

"Yachiru… where's Kenpachi?" Ukitake asked, picking the pink haired one from the floor.

"Oh, he must be mopping the bathroom floor with Yumi's feathers and seeing if it's reflection on Baldie's head…" Yachiru squealed softly, hugging Ukitake. "Hey, hey, Uki?"

"What?"

"Are you and Hana getting married?"

"Well… that's going a little too fast…"

"You should!!! That way, you could have more kids!!"

"More? Yachiru, we don't have any kids!"

"Then… then what's Shiro-chan?!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, KUSAJISHI!!!! AND I'M NOT THEIR SON!!"

"Yay! He's the reluctant son!! WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY!"

"Here we go again…"

"What the hell is your captain gonna sing, Renji?" Hisagi asked, as both him and Kira approached the red head.

"I have no idea… I think he's gonna pick a random song…"

"Oh, this is gonna be cool!" Hisagi said, with a silly smile on the face.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you two were… well, together…"

"Jealous, Abarai?"

"Not really."

"Then why are you drinking so much? Do you feel lonely?"

"Shut up, you…"

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M SINGING THAT!!!" Byakuya screamed from the little stage that Kisuke had settled for the Karaoke, making the three lieutenants to turn around and find him panicking.

"What the hell…?" Renji asked, after Byakuya's desperate yell reached his ears. "I'm gonna check what happened."

Renji walked away, and both Kira and Shuuhei smiled evilly at him.

"Yeah, go see what happened to your lover, Renji!!" Izuru screamed, making the older Shinigami to turn around glaring at him. Shuuhei laughed as well, ruffling Izuru's hair meanwhile avoiding to look Renji in the eye.

"We're so death, Izuru…"

"OH, DEAR LORD!!!" Renji's voice screamed, and afterwards, a burst of laughter came. "POKER FACE!!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He deserved to be punished for laughing his ass off… but dancing in front of half of Soul Society was inhuman. Specially if it was Poker Face.

"GO, RENJI!!!" Matsumoto screamed, trying to suppress her laughter. "MOVE IT!!"

"RENJI, HAVE MY BABIES, PLEASE!!!" Ichigo screamed, and afterwards, both him and Matsumoto exploded.

If it was embarrassing for Byakuya to be singing such a stupid song… it was even worse to be filmed, dancing, by his little sister. Therefore, Renji's face was as bright as his hair…

"P-p-p-poker face! P-p-p-poker face!" Byakuya finished, and just after the song finished, he grabbed Renji's wrist, and ran away from the stage while the crowd was still clapping and wolf whistling.

"Just so you know, lieutenant… you're death…"

"I was dancing and you still want to kill me?! They were practically ignoring you!!"

"That was until you started to do the face thing!!!"

"This is ridiculous.." Renji said, shaking his head. "I'm not going out of my office for a month after this…"

"They're gonna lure us out… they need our photos for their magazine."

"Don't even make me think about it…"

"Renji, Renji!!" Matsumoto intervened, poking Renji on the rib, making him jump as he wasn't expecting her. "Just so you know, we're remaking this for the fan service thing! Sales are going to increase like dogs in heat!!" She was about to leave, letting the men of the sixth division drown in their own pain, but she turned around smiling widely. "By the way, that was a nice hip movement… I can see you've been practicing, you nasty monkey!"

"Kuchiki-Taichou, please, kill me now!"


	14. Love Me Already

Chapter Title "Love me Already" by Black Kids  
"You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift  
"I Want You to Want Me" by Letters to Cleo  
"Blue Moon" by Elvist Prestley  
"Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra  
"Come What May" By Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman  
"Can't Take my Eyes Off Of You" by Muse

_**A/N:** If this were a play, it'd be a musical :D  
I'm a ShuuKira retard, I excuse myself, but it's just... wow.  
And was it just me, or suddenly the manga and anime got stupidly good?!!!__I know my chapters look quite rushed... but I really want to finish this, I have too many ideas for other things, (I blame KHR and xxxHolic) and I can't write them because Ihave to finish this -.-  
Almost done, two or three chapters more-YAY!_

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Love me Already

* * *

**

"Another one!!"

"A couple!"

"Yeah!! What about Taichou and Hinamori!!"

"MATSUMOTOOO!!!"

"Oh, Taichou!! You were listening!"

"Of course, you lazy bum! And I'm not going u there, I don't sing!" The white haired captain screamed, pointing at his lieutenant molested.

"The same said Kuchiki-taichou and he sang… he might wear a paper bag over his pretty face for now on, what a shame…" Matsumoto answered, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Then I'll sing!" Hinamori said, smiling kindly and taking both the microphone and the remote control to pick her song.

"H-hey, Momo, wait!!" Toushiro said, grabbing her arm and pulling her down from the stage.

"What's wrong, Shiro-chan?"

"You don't have to do this… it's embarrassing!"

"No, it's not! Come on, it's fun, Shiro-chan!!! Sing with me!"

"F-Fine…"

The two small Shinigami crawled back again onto the stage, making the boy's lieutenant to squeal and whistle. He turned around and glared at her like if he was going to rip her head with just looking.

"Oh! I love that song!" Momo screamed, poking the middle button on the remote, making Hitsugaya's nightmare begin.

"You have to be kidding me…"

"No! sing with me!"

"But it's a girl who sings this! I-I-I… I can't!"

"Please!!"

"F-fine…" he doubted, taking the other microphone Urahara was giving him, his hands trembling a little as the first notes of the songs started to sound. He glanced away from the crowd sitting in front of him, specially Matsumoto, and even more, he tried to remove his eyes from the little girl standing beside him trying to read the song lyrics. When the woman's voice came out of the speaker, he seemed to go deaf, because he couldn't understand a thing she was singing, neither if Hinamori was already singing or what the hell was happening. He just froze on his spot… so that was stage panic, after all…

"Are you nervous?" Toushiro heard her whisper, and his icy blue eyes met hers, making him nod unwillingly. "Heh, don't be, you silly!! Take my hand, come on!"

He did as she said, and then everything seemed to fit. Out of nowhere courage had filled his body, so he rose the microphone to his lips and finished the song with his friend, as he ahd promised he'd do.

…_Can't you see that I'm the one who understand you?  
Been here all along so why can't you see?  
You belong with me  
Standing by or waiting at your back door  
All this time how could you not know that  
You belong with me  
You belong with me  
Have you ever thought just maybe  
You belong with me  
You belong with me?_

Momo laughed, lacing both of her arms around his neck when the song was over, hugging him with eagerness.

"I can't believe you did it!"

"Me either." He said coldly, returning the hug quite nervous, since he could actually hear Matsumoto's giggles from below.

"Nee, Shiro-kun… you know something?"

"What?"

"_You belong with me_."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Whoosh nexts?! Sum body! Some ones sings naos…" a really, really drunk Renji screamed, shaking his cup dangerously, it almost seemed it was about to spill its contents over Byakuya's head, who had already passed out after too much champagne mixed with some tequila shots the red headed lieutenant had dared him to drink against, and several other drinks he had never even heard about…

"I want to sing! Me! Me! Me!"

"Jush, so the green haired gal cans sings…" Renji muttered, throwing the microphone to Mashiro, who caught it and picked her song immediately.

"Well… this song goes for you, you enormous idiot!!!" She said, pointing at her former captain. Kensei opened his eyes wide, and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks as the other Vizards had started to laugh at his expense.

"You little…"

_I want you to want me_

_I need you to need me_

_I'd love you to love me_

_I'm beggin' you to beg me_

_I want you to want me_

_I need you to need me_

_I'd love you to love me_

_I'll shine up my old brown shoes_

_Put on a brand new shirt_

_Get home early from work_

_If you say that you love me…_

Kensei stood up from the table and climbed up to the stage, with a big smile on the lips and a large frown on the brows, nevertheless, happy. Mashiro seemed surprised he had stepped in at the middle of the song, but she smiled as well.

"You sing horrible." Kensei muttered, patting her head after she wrapped her hands around his torso.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

… _Blue Moon… _

_you saw me standing alone… _

_without a dream in my heaaaaaart…. _

_Without a love of my ooooooown…_

_Blue moon...  
Without a love of my own…_

"How the hell did he reached the stage?" Nanao asked as he watched her captain singing completely drunk, holding himself from the microphone. The worst thing was that he didn't sang THAT bad…

"Maybe he crawled…" Unohana suggested, as she worried glanced around the room

"Or rolled… that's quite plausible… where's Ukitake-taichou?"

"I'm wondering the same thing, Ise-san…"

"ONE MORE, ANOTHER ONE, PUH-LEEZ!!!" Kyouraku screamed, and another voice joined his, making both women to jump, and turn around quite surprised.

"YAY, ANOTHER ONE PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, KISUKE-CHAN, YAY!!!!" Ukitake screamed, jumping from one side to another.

_Strangers in the night exchanging glances  
Wondering in the night  
What were the chances we'd be sharing love  
Before the night was throooooooooooooooooooough.  
_

_Something in your eyes was so inviting,  
Something in you smile was so exciting,  
Something in my heart,  
Told me I must have ..._

After that, they were unable to continue singing since they had started to laugh their asses off, unable to even stand up, because Kyouraku had tripped with his own feet and had dragged Ukitake down as well. They managed to roll down off of the stage and exactly afterwards, Ichimaru climbed up and grabbed the remote, then he extended his hand to Rangiku, who smiled and took it, climbing to the stage as well.

A light sound of bells with piano started to make itself present, and Matsumoto smiled, leaning closer to her lover, as her lips enclosed in his slightly.

"You picked our song…"

"I know you love that movie so much… I had to do it for you."

_Never knew I could feel like this_

_Like I've never seen the sky before_

_Want to vanish inside your kiss_

_Every day I love you more and more_

_Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings_

_Telling me to give you everything_

_Seasons may change winter to spring_

_But I love you until the end of time_

_Come what may, come what may_

_I will love you until my dying day…_

Gin sang, grabbing Rangiku's wild mane and whipping a lonely tear from her face as he kissed her once more.

…_Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place  
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste  
It all revolves around you_

_And there's no mountain too high no river too wide  
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side  
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide  
But I love you until the end of time…_

Either way, they weren't able to finish their song, since they started kissing right before the last verse, not even breaking for gasp of air… that was, until once more, Drunk Renji made the honors.

"WOULD SHOME BUDDY PUH-LEEEZ FINISH A GODDAM SONG?!!!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The place was almost empty. All the humans had gone home already, and half of the Shinigami had left as well. No Vizard was visible, and it only seemed the oldest people and some lieutenants were left. The Karaoke was still working, so the young couple walked towards the machine, and the brunette had started to play with the remote, until his eyes met the song he was searching for. On the other hand, the blonde wasn't so glad he had found it, since his new lover was way too loud, and he didn't want their romance to be the greatest new of the new year.

"You're not singing that cheesy song, do you?"

"Yes, I am, and it goes for you, so enjoy it!"

"Please, Shuu, do not… how many cups have you…?"

"Three. You know I don't' start getting myself naked until I get to the sixth round…"

"But please, don't…"

"Too late. The song is there."

"I'll kill you!"

"Better leave me tired, aching, and panting on my back, baby…"

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Izuru screamed, throwing his beer at Shuuhei, who dodged it and laughing like a maniac, he reached the stage and grabbed the microphone.

"SHOOO!! FINISH DA SON OR YAR NUT GETTING A PIECE OF KIRA'S…"

"SHUT UP ABARAI!!!" The blonde screamed, hitting Renji with the beer Shuuhei had just abandoned, making the red head to faint, falling knocked down besides Byakuya.

"Hey, Blondie…"

"Don't' call me that!"

"Let's put those two in the same bed before we leave… and let's see what happens tomorrow." Shuuhei laughed, and Kira smiled, because he loved the was his nose wrinkled anytime he laughed.

"You're devil in disguise… shall we remove their clothes?"

"You mean, shall you remove my clothes?"

"YOURE A FREAKING PERVERT!"

Shuuhei laughed again as a soothing and smooth song started, and Shuuhei started to swing his own body from left to right, closing his eyes slightly. Izuru smiled, resting his head over his arms over the stage, watching him closely.

_You're just too good to be true.  
Can't keep my eyes off you.  
You feel like heaven to touch.  
I wanna hold you so much.  
At long last love has arrived  
And I thank God I'm alive.  
You're just too good to be true.  
Can't take my eyes off you._

_Pardon the way that I stare.  
There's nothing else to compare.  
The sight of you makes me weak.  
There are no words left to speak,  
But if you feel like I feel,  
Please let me know that it's real.  
You're just too good to be true.  
Can't take my eyes off you._

_I love you, baby,  
And if it's quite alright,  
I need you, baby,  
To warm the lonely nights.  
I love you, baby.  
Trust in me when I say:  
Oh, pretty baby,  
Don't bring me down, I pray.  
Oh pretty baby,  
Now that I found you, stay  
And let me love you, baby.  
Let me love you._

When the music calmed itself once more, Shuuhei extended a hand to the blonde, who opened his eyes wide and smiled . He gladly took it and jumped up, grabbing Shuuhei's shoulders, as the older one placed his hands over his waist and both of them started to swing to the rhythm of the song slightly. Izuru buried his nose over the crook of Shuuhei's neck while the other kept singing in his ear. _  
_

_You're just too good to be true.  
Can't keep my eyes off of you.  
You feel like heaven to touch.  
I wanna hold you so much.  
At long last love has arrived  
And I thank God I'm alive.  
You're just too good to be true.  
Can't take my eyes off of you._

_I love you baby,  
And if it's quite alright,  
I need you, baby,  
To warm the lonely nights.  
I love you, baby.  
Trust in me when I say:  
Oh, pretty baby,  
Don't bring me down, I pray.  
Oh pretty baby,  
Now that I found you stay  
And let me love you, baby.  
Let me love you..._

The music faded, but the couple remained there. Anyways there seemed the karaoke was already over, since half of the people present were already asleep, drunk, or had already left… or either way, they were dancing as they did in there.

"I really like your voice." Izuru muttered, sighing slightly.

"And you haven't seen what I'm able to do with it, 'Zuru… I can make you melt."

"You pervert…"

"You know you want it." Shuuhei let a large breath run out of his lungs, making Izuru shiver. "But never as much as I want you."

"Shuuhei?"

"Hm?"

"You once told me you know French."

"Yeah, because of Braille. Most of the text on it are on French, so I had to know."

"W-would you… would you tell me something in French? I really love it…"

Shuuhei smiled, burying his face over Izuru's blonde hair.

"Je t'aime, mon amour…"

* * *

_**NOTE: **I'm not completely sure about the Braille thing, I know I read it somewhere, but I can't remember where T.T I might be wrong, but I wanted Shuuhei speaking in French XD I'm such a fangirl..._


	15. Seaside

**Warning: Lots of Spoilers from the latest manga chapters.**

**A/N:** Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!!! I have delayed this thing for so long but... but... oh, well, you guys deserve an explanation if you've reached this far. First, I've been taking an intense course of Japanese classes, and the first half just finished. Also, I'm on semestral exams. Watching 10 episodes of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! each day consumes most of my time, but it's not my fault, that aimeis addicting!!! Ah, and the current chapters of Bleach had made me reeeeeaaaaallly angry at Kubo-sensei. I had my hopes Tousen was not bad, but stabbing the sexiest character ever right through the chest is not cool. I was probably one of the few people who ctually liked him, but... no, he's a real bastard!!!_  
OMG, I actually wrote a GinIzu bit?! The world is falling!  
**The title comes from the song "Seaside" by The Kooks.**_

_**

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**_**Chapter 15  
Seaside

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**

January first, such a promising date. Indeed it was, even the weather seemed to be on favor of the holidays, since it was not snowing anymore. Main reason why several people were gathered on the beach, though they could not swim… even if it was not freezing cold, the water was not warm at all. Either way, the day had been long and a certain golden haired woman was still not over the worst hangover she had ever had… and not only that, but her beloved one had made her stay awakened all night… not that Matsumoto actually regretted it, but she knew going back to work was going to be painful once their little break was over.

"We never talked 'bout it, now that I think so." Gin muttered as both of them watched the sunset on the horizon. "No wonder why, ya might have killed me if I had brought that up yesterday"

"What?"

"I'm not quite sure you'd not kill me now…"

"Tell m, what is it?"

"The kid you lost." He said completely serious, even the mocking tone of his voice disappeared. "I mean… we did talk about it, but we didn't get serious onto it. We immediately kissed and made up."

"I haven't forgiven you yet. You still have that… thing."

"I tell you, it was not my fault."

"Well, anyway. I have told you everything of what I felt about the kid, I have nothing else to say."

"I do. First of all, think god you confirmed it was mine. And I'm sorry. For everything. I abandoned you, with our kid… you lost it…"

"Don't apologize. What's done it's done, we can't do anything anymore."

"It's just… I promised I'd not search for you ever again, but when I knew about it, I couldn't help but let go. I have no words to tell you how-" Matsumoto placed a thin finger over his lips to shut him up, and then placed quick kiss over them.

"Then don't say anything. I know. And that's not the reason why I can't forgive you. The reason why I can't is because you… you refused to live as a Shinigami. You're so scared of who knows what, you agreed to have that… thing…"

"Love."

"What?"

"I'm scared of loving. That's why I ran. People tend to tell me I'm afraid of death, but that's not it. I'm afraid of loving until the point it kills me, that's why I ran away from you."

"You said you ran because you were ordered!!!"

"That's the other reason. After thinking so much about it, I reached that conclusion. I didn't want to die for love. I still don't want to. Same reason why Tousen ran. He wanted power so he'd not die just as a Shinigami. He feared dying like that."

"Yet neither one of you is dead!"

"Then kill me."

"W-what?"

"Go ahead. If you want it so badly, kill me. I'm scared of loving, but not from you… that makes things difficult, doesn't it?"

"Stop talking no-sense… either way, I'm not the one who might kill you, Gin… why don't you go talk with Izuru? You had been avoiding the poor boy since yesterday. He deserves at least an apology."

"Come on! he's with his lover!!! You'd kick Toushiro's ass if he interfered while you're with me, don't you?"

"W-w-well… that's not the point! You've to talk to Izuru!"

"Fine, fine!!!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey love… why so lonely?" Shuuhei asked, burying his face on Izuru's shoulder.

"You've been bothering Renji, I can't help but wait for you to pay attention to me."

"Stop sulking."

"No, I'm kidding" a light smile brightened Kira's face, making each single cell in Hisagi's body burn from desire. He was so beautiful he couldn't help falling in love even more each time he showed that kinky smirk of his. "I just got caught by the sight."

"You're such a romantic."

"I know… but the seaside is beautiful, mostly at the sunset. I love it."

"It kinda reminds me of you, 'Zuru." Shuuhei muttered, nibbling slightly at Izuru's earlobe, making him shiver and arch his back slightly.

"You nasty jerk… don't do that" a moan escaped from the blonde's lips when Shuuhei's nibbling became a playful bite. "Shuu, not here…"

"You're willing to let me make love to you?"

"Not yet…" Izuru muttered, and Shuuhei bite him once again, this time on the neck.

"Then I won't stop, until you say you do."

"You're an idiot, Shuuhei… please…"

"Party pooper." The brunette said, letting go of Izuru's hips.

"You started it!"

"No, I was playing with you, and what I told you was truth. Sunsets like this one remind me of you."

"Hisagi-sensei's poetic side is on?"

"Yeah, it is… would you let me finish?!"

"Go ahead…"

"You're just like a sunset, seriously. The sky, as it lights itself with those peachy tones remind me of each single inch of skin you have. The sun is as bright as your hair, and the sea so blue and deep as your eyes. But definitely, what I love the most about it, are the clouds. The things which make the sky take orange, yellow, pink… even purple tones at times. They're so soft, so pure, so beautiful… as well as moist and silky, like those lips I long to kiss every time I have to stay away from you."

"Shuuhei, for real, how is it you're not married?!"

Izuru said breathless, embracing the older Shinigami with need. The brunette had taken his breath away, since each one of those words had been whispered onto Izuru's ear with such a tenderness and love even Kenpachi would have turned gay if Hisagi would have tortured him that way.

"Because I don't tell this to anyone. You're special."

"If you promise me you'll do that all the time, I'll let you have me any time you want…" Izuru mumbled against the fabric of Shuuhei's coat, embarrassed.

"Just what I wanted to hear!"

"You jerk…"

Right at the moment they were about to kiss once more, a large shadow appeared, and they immediately let go of each other, mostly because Izuru still got embarrassed if anyone found them like that.

"Sorry to be interruptin' ya…" Gin muttered, scratching the back of his head. "But I really need to talk to ya… would ya mind-?"

"I have nothing to hear from you." Kira said coldly, glaring at his former captain. Shuuhei noticed he had placed a hand over Wabisuke's green hilt, and that his fingers were trembling around it, since he was pressing his palm as hard as he could because of his repressed anger. "Please go."

"'Zu-chan, it's just for some-"

"Never. Call. Me. That. Again." In the blink of an eye, both Shuuhei and Izuru had dragged out their swords, one pointing dangerously at Ichimaru's forehead and the other to his neck.

"GUYS!" Matsumoto's voice screamed, making Shuuhei to lower his Zanpakuto a little, but then he took it firmly again. "Izuru, please listen to him!"

Th blonde doubted a little, but then he sheathed his katana, and Shuuhei imitated him.

"Go." Shuuhei said to Izuru, but then a deadly glare that Izuru had only seen in his lover's eyes whenever he had to unleash Kazeshini's true abilities appeared on his stormy eyes. That glance, Izuru knew, was not for him, but the silver haired man besides them. "If you dare to hurt him, or make him feel bad, I'll tear your insides out with my bare hands, and I don't care of what she might do to me. You've already done enough, dare to destroy him again, and I'll open your skull with my fingers if I need to."

The brunette turned around, and his reiatsu peaked dangerously it almost made Izuru fall to his knees. He had never in his entire life seen Hisagi so angry, it was bit scary.

"Damn, that kid might have reached a captain level reiatsu by now, he's waaaay to scary…" Gin's smile reappeared, and it was quite a warm one. "He really must love you, Kira-kun."

"Love, you say? I might sound miserable, but the only thing Shuuhei wants is sex. The worst part is I want it too, so I don't deny myself to-"

"You think I can't see my own true fear when I'm in front of it?"

"What?"

"He loves you. Don't ever let him go."

"What did you wanted to talk? Go straight to the point, please." Izuru asked, pested of having to talk to the man he had grown to hate the most lately.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You're the worst person I've ever met! You goddamned hypocrite! Seriously, you don't deserve someone like Rangiku-san! You're… damn it, I'm not even gonna spend my energy telling you what I think about you! Just leave us alone!"

"Heh… it's a wonderful sight, isn't it, Kira-kun?" Gin said, faking he hadn't heard anything Izuru had just said.

"You bastard…"

"You have all the right to hate me; and I don't blame you, actually. Indeed I'm the worst person alive, and I think my reasons for leaving all behind were not worth, but it was my work, I couldn't say no."

To his surprise, his former subordinate chuckled, and shook his head, blond hair falling over his face.

"You working? In which universe is it you work? I'd have liked to be living there for a while."

"You really hold an enormous grudge against me for all I did to you, don't you?"

"It's not just me! At some points I think I always liked being around you because I'm some sort of a masochist, but… what you did to Rangiku-san… and to Hinamori-kun… I just can't believe it! You're terrible." Another chuckle came after his little speech, but this time it sounded a little faint and desperate. Izuru removed the golden locks of hair from his face and placed them behind his ear, revealing a sarcastic smirk on his lips. "I can't believe, even after you were gone, I had faith you would return… how naïve of me."

"I returned." Gin said, placing hand over his shoulder, but the younger one shoved his hand without even touching him.

"But Ichimaru Gin didn't come back. The Taichou I knew does not longer exist. I quite miss him."

"Heh, what a cute thing to say to someone you dislike this much."

"Dislike? Don't get it wrong, I hate you. I've come to loathe you even more than I hated dried persimmons." That last part made Gin laugh, though it was more like a sad chuckle with a strange mix of irony on his tone.

"I must have known. Your killing intent is still as powerful as when we met yesterday… I guess either Hisagi-kun calmed you down or I grew used to be threatened all this time."

"Both sound reasonable." To Gin's surprise, the blonde Shinigami smiled. "This indeed sounds like before, doesn't it? It seems we're just having a normal talk after work."

"Nah, back then you didn't want to kill me."

"At times I did. When you wouldn't move your lazy ass of the chair, or when you ran with Rangiku-san for a drink or two… or when you came back completely drunk singing at the top of your lungs, waking up the entire division. Heh, even when you first grew your disgusting persimmons on the main garden."

"Don't think too high of yourself, there were also times when I also wanted to strangle you…. Or at least hit the back of your head so you'd faint and shut up."

"Yeah? Like when?"

"Oh, well, when you made me work all day and put my signature over 3000 papers that looked exactly the same, when you, as well, came back with Hisagi-kun and Abarai-kun laughing your asses off , and after they left you became a crybaby and I had to stop you several times before you threw yourself out of the window (which is just one meter form the ground, by the way) and fainted outside the barracks, and you'd have to sleep all night on the grass, and you'd catch a cold… also when you got one of those workaholic attacks and you would not stop doing the reports for the whole year while drinking 5 pots of coffee… oh, and let's not forget when you started to rant about the hygiene on the bathrooms that no one seemed to care about, neither you, by the way, you just kept on and on and on until you noticed everyone had either fallen asleep or left the room, and also when…"

"OKAY, OKAY! YOU WIN, DAMMIT!" Izuru screamed, turning bright red while his former captain listed all of his shameful faults.

"You see? It's just like before. Don't tell me I never came back, because… well, it feels like if I've never left." Gin muttered, his smile toning down a little for some seconds, but then it grew back.

"Ichimaru-san?"

"Heh… yes, Kira-kun?"

"It is indeed a nice sunset."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Pink. Everywhere it could be seen. Even the sand looked pink. The clouds, the sun, the ocean, everything. Fortunately, that immense pinkness would come to an end suddenly, since a slight tint of dark blue could be seen from afar. The woman sighed, fixing her lenses and pulling her head back just to release the tension on her neck for a while.

"Kotsubaki told me you changed him places and went with Kyouraku last night." A rough voice spoke behind her, but Nanao didn't turn around, she already knew who it was.

"You've got any problems? My intimacy is not your business."

"How rude, Ise."

"Indeed, Iba-san."

"Now you're feeling like a diva, don't you?"

"Heh, and you're quite jealous, don't you?"

Iba didn't answer, he just stood besides Nanao and sighed as well.

"At least you got your happy ending, Ise."

"There are no happy endings."

"Well… you're not lonely, are you? You've got what you wanted."

"Not really."

"Anyways, why are you here, alone?"

"Let's say, Ukitake-taichou and Kyouraku-taichou got drunk really, really bad last night because of some stupid bet they had, and they were dancing on their underwear just some hours ago and it was quite a show, so I escaped… I needed a breath."

"Why you came here?"

"Well… I was thinking of meeting Matsumoto here, but I forgot she was busy. I mean, it's the only time she can spend with him, I should have known… and you? Why so lonely?"

"Almost the same. Came here with my captain, but then he found someone else to spend the evening with and I can't really interfere… not that I want to."

"Heh, the same situation, eh?"

"No, not really. Matsumoto and Ichimaru are lovers. My captain and Tousen are just friends, there's a large difference between romance and friendship."

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"You'd give your life for both your friends and the person you love, won't you?" Nanao said, with a smirk on her face. Iba chuckled, glancing away from her.

"Thankfully, the person I care the most for is my friend as well, so… I guess there's no other way but to protect that person with all I got."

"That woman is lucky… it is a woman, right?" Nanao whispered, making the older Shinigami laugh a little.

"Yeah, indeed, she's lucky. I'm actually happy she has found what she wanted."

"Unrequited love?"

"I don't know. My hopes haven't died yet."

"Heh… you're even more cheesy than those stupid vampire books."

"Well, everyone now likes cheesy sparkling vampires, being just cheesy is more than enough for me."

"If you start to sparkle, I'll set you on fire."

"How lovely you are. But you have the divine right to do so."

"Thank you."

"Tetsu…"

"It's been ages since you called me that with no evil intentions behind it… what's the matter?"

"Does this person you love knows about what you feel for her?"

"I'm pretty sure she does. She's not stupid… for my disgrace she's pretty bright… why do you ask?"

"Well, because I might have found what I was looking for, but I'm not sure that what I want is what I need. And I don't know what else to do."

"Mhhh, then what do you need?"

"I'm not quite sure. I can't believe we have been talking this much, the stars are already showing themselves." Nanao noted, gazing up at the sky as the pinkness became some kind of dark orange which was slowly turning into blue. "It's beautiful."

"Sure it is."

Without even expecting it, their hands suddenly linked with each other, as both lieutenants glanced at the sky. Nanao noticed a strong blush spreading through her cheeks, and unconsciously she looked right besides her, to where Iba was standing. The man had also turned halfway around to where she was, but he was not blushing as hard. Immediately, Nanao closed her eyes and launched herself to his arms. He was caught with his guard down, so he almost fell backwards onto the sand with the woman on top of him, but he managed to keep his balance. When Iba noticed what Nanao was doing, he was still surprised, bit her lips felt incredibly soft against his. It was warm and delicate, not as rough and savage as he had imagined she'd be. Who would have thought the strict and cold Vice-Captain Ise could be such a great kisser? Surely Kyouraku was a lucky man.

After some seconds, Nanao realized what she was doing and placed both of her hands on his chest and pushed him away, and he pushed her at the same time from the shoulder.

"DAMMIT, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!!" Iba screamed, pointing at her.

"GOD, YOU'RE A TERRIBLE KISSER!" Nanao answered back, placing a hand over her mouth.

"It was like kissing my Aneki!!! Dear Lord!!!"

"Damn, we're lamer than sparkling vampires!!!!"

After some minutes of complaining, they caught each other's glance and couldn't help but crack in laughter.

"Dammit, it was weird, Nanao!!"

"I know!!! Promise me we're never doing it again, Tetsu!"

"Sure thing!!"

"Seriously…" Nanao repeated, extending her little finger to him. "Promise…no, swear tome nothing will ever happen between you and I, or I'll kill myself."

Iba smiled, and linked his finger with hers.

"You better not regret this and keep your word, Ise."

"Thank you."

"Now you know what to do, don't you?"

"Yes… and thanks to this, I noticed something."

"What?"

"Sometimes what we need is not what we want." Her smile grew wider, as she unlinked her finger from his. "I just hope I can keep it that way.."

Iba smiled, hugging her slightly afterwards.

"I hope that as well."

"By the way…"

"What?"

"You and your people still need to pose in your birthday suits for our photos, Tetsu."

* * *

**Note:** I think it'll be just one or two more chapters :D Hope I can finish it before the year is out, at least!


	16. Masquerade

**A/N:Hi there... SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES!!! I had a very busy month, I wasn't able to write... most likely, I had't took the time to write this one Because I HAVE written, wait for the Oneshots on Febuary 14th :D**

**I don't own Bleach or any of the titles/ideas that already exist on this chapter.**

**

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Chapter 16**

**Masquerade

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**

"It's finally done!" Nanao snapped, throwing three different copies at his desk.

"Nice!" her interlocutor answered, sitting straight on his chair and grabbing the three booklets she had given him. "Which one is ours?"

"The one with the black envelope. Ours is red."

"Why the third one?"

"It contains everything. For special clients who don't bother having the whole set."

"Oh, Renji requested it personally?"

"It was supposed to stay anonymous, but yeah, he and several others asked for it, so… the one with the double cover is the full project."

"Interesting… I'm quite afraid to watch it, you know?"

"As the president, you must." Nanao frowned. "Don't be a chicken, Tetsu, I watched yours."

"Yeah, well, but we controlled ourselves! You and your people went crazy and took like a million of photos."

"Uh, sure, you should have seen Matsumoto's face of tiredness when she came back. You guys just took photos of her!"

"Of course not!" Iba defended himself, observing the contents carefully, as if the book were about to eat him. "And by the way, this little cartoons on the bottom are not half bad… Hinamori helped you, didn't she?"

"Yup… and she is practicing a little with digital programs, as she went and bought some on the human world a week ago, and helped Hisagi with the editions… I'm pretty satisfied with the results."

"Well… on this normal, not gay part of the booklet is great." Iba admitted, as his fingers passed through the sheets. He had to admit, even if it was made out of evil, some of Nanao's ideas for the book were really amazing.

"The ideas are not only mine." She said, smiling deviously, making the other Shinigami shiver in fear a little. "And, no, Tetsu, I cannot read minds, what makes you think that?"

"You're the scariest woman ever…"

"Are you sure of that? Want me to call Unohana-Taichou?"

"No, thanks, I'm fine like this!" _Damn it, it seems like Unohana is giving classes to her!_

"Yes, sweet, she's my mentor." Nanao answered with a fake smile on the lips as she sat in front of him, taking the booklet from his hands.

"Well, that explains a lot of things, Ise."

Nanao opened the book on the first page, showing it to him.

"We gave you the courtesy of having the top ten of the most beautiful Shinigami women on the first pages." She said, smiling.

"You're just doing it because you're the sixth one, don't you?"

"No. The profit I take comes from other pictures, and you know it. Now, check them, tell me if there's any mistake or anything that does not go according to what we settled."

Iba smiled, then he stared at the most gorgeous photo of Matsumoto he had ever seen. It was so shiny and so seductive he was sure that if Nanao wasn't in front of him he'd have started to drool over his papers.

"H-hold it, we didn't took that photo…"

"No. We did, last summer on the trip to the beach; you couldn't come because you were buried under a pile of papers, remember?"

"Oh, right! But it looks so…"

"Perfect? Hinamori is useful when it comes to aesthetics, Iba."

He kept passing the pictures, from Yoruichi through Nemu, Unohana and Isane making the top five, all in their swimsuits from the past trip on the summer. Afterwards came Rukia in a little devil costume that Iba was grateful it had been his and Renji's idea (receiving a large punch from a certain orange haired Shinigami was worth that photo, and both of them knew it). The next one was Nanao along with the Vizard girl that looked a hell like her, both dressed in a Sailor Uniform like Lisa used to do, as a special request from Kyouraku. Then was Soifon in one of those cute and small Chinese dresses, and at last the Vizard green-haired girl along with Orihime… it amazed Iba the similarities they had as they both shared the same dumbstruck face as well as the same height and personality. He wondered if the bad taste for cooking was the same.

"Fine then, they're really good. Hinamori has a really good touch with this stu- WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!" He said, watching the next two pictures. In one was Yachiru in her swimsuit eating watermelon with a large smile on her face, and on the other there was Byakuya as well in his swimsuit, taking a sunbath beneath a large parasol. "HOW IS IT YACHIRU AND KUCHIKI REACHED 11TH AND 12TH PLACE AS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN SOUL SOCIETY?!"

"Don't scream, please, you're making my head hurt…" Nanao said, covering one of her ears with her little finger. " It's a joke, you should check how ours went… anyway, that comes later. The next part is the best five couples."

"As for couples you mean gay couples?!"

"No… but we didn't include Yoruichi-san and Soifon-taichou as part of it, just so you know."

"WHY NOT? They were the only ones we could freely ship with no complains and no need to argue or lie about it, why not!!"

"Because she's marrying Urahara-san. They're one of the ones who are only featured, but do not deserve an actual position."

"Hm… fine… hey, wait a second!!! Why is it your sick couples are on the list and one of them is the first place?!"

"Didn't the whole month run around those two? Didn't we settle the bet to bring them together? Don't you think they actually deserve it? Hisagi and Izuru had been through a lot lately, I think they earned it."

"You're talking like if they wanted it…"

"You'd say. Matsumoto and Ichimaru on the second because they're emo and angsty like hell. Readers like that."

"You even put a description onto how their relationship came to what it's now?! You're a sick woman!"

"Actually, Rangiku proposed it. She's ok with it, and the other people are as well… obviously some details omitted"

"Yeah, sure, you're being very explicit on some, let me tell you."

"You're just jealous you're lonely and you have no chances of appearing in that place, ever"

"Well… anyways… third place to Urahara and Shihoin, as expected. Then Kurosaki and Kuchiki Rukia… why them?"

"Don't you think their relationship is the one who changed our world forever? I mean, if Kuchiki had never appeared in front of Kurosaki, he'd have never become a Shinigami, therefore, we'd probably still be under Aizen's illusion by now, don't you think? They share something I quite envy… it's so magical."

"You're so lame, Ise."

"Just as lame as you, Iba." She smiled, without picking up her glance from the book.

"On last place, Yumichika and Ikkaku… just because they're kinky and Yachiru wanted them there, so she cheated and managed to bribe everyone with candy…"

"That thing quite impresses me."

"She's form the 11th, you should always expect the impossible from those people!"

"I was from the…"

"I know, Tetsu. That's why."

The man frowned, and passed another page. As Nanao promised, the picture with Yoruichi and Soifon was featured, and it didn't look half bad; actually, it looked, not as sexy and naughty as he had thought, but it looker rather cute, and he was sure somewhere Soifon was dying of overflowing happiness.

The only thing that made a difference between the five best couples and the featured ones was that the former had a whole page for themselves, while these was just half or less than that. Still, it was not bad… not at all.

"Uh… just one question." He said, after he saw several photos, one of which included Nanao and her captain, some others like Orihime and the Quincy, Akon and Nemu, Unohana and Ukitake, Hitsugaya and Hinamori, and several others.

"What?"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, ISE?!" He said pointing at a very nice photo of the two of them sharing a kiss on the twilight, thing that actually happened just some days ago. "WHY ARE YOU AND I THERE?!!"

"Shoot, Matsumoto must have taken that photo while we were… anyway, why did Hisagi put this on the edition?!"

"Well, why, we set him up against his own will with another man, this is kind of a take back."

"Yeah, well, he should be thankful we did!" Nanao said, glancing at the picture closely. "Ironic."

"What?"

"We were kissing at Twilight… a thing we both hate."

Iba laughed, giving up on fighting. It was not that bad, at least one sole picture of him was published across the whole magazine.

"Hold it… how did you got Kuchiki to pose like this, Nanao?"

Nanao took the book from his hands once more, and she smiled at the sight of the photo of him and Renji, where the red haired one had a hand on Byakuya's back to make him lean closer, while the Kuchiki man leaned closer as if he were to kiss his lieutenant.

"Not easy, let me tell"

"Yeah, most of the photos are from the party, but as long as I know, this didn't happen… and you'd not dare to put here at least the Poker face part…"

"Oh, no, that comes later. We had to do several arrangements with Kuchiki-taichou so this would happen."

"You threatened him, or something?"

"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do much. As it seems, he's one of the few people I cannot intimidate with just glances yet. So, Unohana Taichou made us the little favor to convince him." Nanao said with a cruel smile on her face; the older Shinigami tried to return the gesture, but it was quite difficult, since Nanao seemed to be enjoying Byakuya's suffering.

"I-Is he alright?!"

"Physically, he is. Mentally, he's probably scarred for life."

"Would you care to explain what she did?"

"Quite an interesting story, dear…"

Nanao crossed her arms beneath her bosom, closing the booklet.

_It started two days after the party. You remember that we summoned almost everyone on Urahara's house for some photos we still needed. The trouble was, some people were trying to make their way back to soul society avoiding the little photo shoot. One of them was Kuchiki Taichou. Fortunately, Renji has a nut instead of a brain, and as he was staying at the shop, he managed to intercept his captain. Of course, the idiot didn't know about the photo shoot because he had forgotten about it… Kuchiki-taichou almost fainted when Unohana-taichou appeared behind Renji with her infamous intimidating smile…_

_Well the point was she forced him to do the shoots, but not only that, he was so scared he did everything we requested, even those cheesy poses… you should have been there, Iba, you'd have cried of joy… no, seriously, don't make those faces, you were one of the people who ever wanted to see Kuchiki-taichou cry and you know it… yes, he did cry. Yup, look at page 35, Renji is trying to calm his breakdown… no, we didn't cut and paste on Photoshop, I swear it's real!_

…_Well as I was saying, at first he started complaining, but then he seemed to quite enjoy the thing. So much I seriously thought he might have traded places with Yumichika and had gone unnoticed. But no, it really was Kuchiki-taichou, because we asked him to share his scarf with Renji and he gave us much more trouble with that. If it had been Yumi he'd have never complained. The outcome of this: Kuchiki Byakuya finally is coming out of the closet. Dragging Renji out, I'm afraid…_

_Well, the point is it was way much more easier to take their photos than I thought. Yumichika and Ikkaku collaborated with some prompts… but there was a little trouble with the cosplay… because it seems that the number of bald characters in common fandom… is null. _

"I'm not putting a freaking wig ever again, Yumichika!!! NO IS NO!"

"You're putting it you damn idiot! You look great! Well, at least if you're not doing it, let it grow! You do not look great bald anymore!!!"

"You two shut up! You are too noisy!!!"

"Taichou, tell him to grow his hair!!! He looks stupid like that!"

"That's true, pachinko head, you look ridiculous!"

"Shut up, Yachiru!"

"I know! There is one cosplay you can try if you negate yourself to use a wig and look nice for once in a while! Why don't you let me paint a freaking blue arrow on the top of your head while you're dressed in some pathetic outfit, dear?! Sure you'll look great with permanent tattoo ink on that ugly head of yours!!!"

"COME AND SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU NARCISSISTS BASTARD!!"

"YOU HAVE AN UGLY HEAD!!!!"

"YOU FREAKING… GYAAAAAH!!! YACHIRU, STOP BITING MY HEAD!!"

"Kamikorosu!!!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAID?!"

"HEY GUYS! WHY DIDN'T YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO PUT UP A FIGHT?! I'M GOING ALL OUT ON YOU!!!"

"NO, TAICHOU, DON'T DRAG YORU SWORD!!!! DAMNIT, STOP BITING!!"

_Yes… they're such a lovely family… fortunately, that photo on the next page does either good promotion of either fraternal love, or Domestic Abuse… either way, I'm thinking of removing it and use it as blackmail later on. Anyway, they didn't do the cosplay prompt, but Renji and Kuchiki-taichou offered themselves again, and a nice Dracula shot came out of everything. In the end, we were still missing a pair of idiots, there, so I sent Matsumoto to search for Hisagi and Kira… unfortunately, that woman is useless._

_So, I sent someone better, I sent Nemu. But then again, the women in my association, since they all fell in love seemed to have turned into perfect idiots. She got distracted because Akon kidnapped her and they ran to the human word for hours… well, I sent Kiyone and amazingly Kotsubaki agreed to go with her. I smell secret romance there. Anyway, they got me some quite good pictures of their date on the movie theater and the theme park, which I really liked…_

_The problem was, 69 and Blondie were still missing. So I sent Isane to look for them. Amazingly, a certain blonde with glasses came asking for her to help him with all the "paperwork" they had on their office, but I didn't dare to intrude on that one. The idea of having Iemura with anyone just crept me out. Anyway, Unohana-taichou appeared right at the same moment, and she calmed my nerves telling me there was nothing occurring between her second and third seat and I sighed in relief. Afterwards, Ukitake taichou appeared carrying two cups of tea on a tray, it seemed he was her butler or something… or at least that's something I heard Kuchiki-taichou murmuring to himself. I wanted to ask her to search for them, but it was impossible. Then, Rukia-san and Orihime-san came in, but they already had plans. They were going on a double date or something, but they promised me some good photos for this thing, and they did. The café prompt nobody had thought of fitted really great for the four of them. I was losing my hopes to find someone who would help me search for them, as I couldn't leave the "studio" my captain and I had managed to improvise in just some hours in our barracks, or the time I came back with those two jerks, the entire division would be on ruins thanks to either Kuchiki-Taichou's emotional breakdown or the lovely family's rage rampage._

_Fortunately for me, Hinamori came in, and she had seen those two earlier that morning, heading out of the training grounds on Kira's division, seemingly to a sake bar to waste themselves out. Unfortunately it had already been some time since Hinamori had seen them, so I was thinking maybe they were about to reach that bar they often go with you in Rukongai. But, to my luck, my salvation consisted in two women: Yoruichi-san and Soifon-taichou. In other words, the fastest women in the whole Soul Society. _

_By lunch time, both idiots were there, and Yoruichi-san and Soifon-taichou made their way out, as it seems, Yoruichi made the cruel act of asking Soifon to be her Maid of Honor at her wedding with Kisuke. And worse of all, it only seems to be making her fall in love with her master more and more._

_A sweet irony… _

Nanao stood up from the chair, and started to walk around the room. He placed softly a hand over Iba's shoulder, smiling, then she went to the window and opened the curtains so natural light would enter. A really orange and pink sunset was falling on the sky once more, and Nanao smiled. She sat on the windowsill and placed both hands over her legs after crossing them. Iba watched her cautiously, as if expecting she'd do something weird out of nowhere.

"Relax, Tetsu, I'm not going to kill you!"

"No, I know… it's just it feels like your Reiatsu is leveling up… killing-intent-like."

"Heh, don't be stupid, that's not it… you don't know anything about women, do you? No doubt you're still single."

"That's your fault anyway… what's with you? Why did you stopped?"

"I was thinking of them… Soifon-taichou and Yoruichi-san for a second… remove the fact of the homosexuality, the point is the unrequited love. It makes me feel quite pitiful."

"You have someone with you, you know?"

"But that's my point, Iba… things never last forever, and you know it. For some, the things being ephemeral is good, is hope… for others, like me, it's nothing but despair."

"Why are you thinking this all of sudden?"

"Shunsui is one of the oldest Shinigami… thought we do live a lot, we do not live forever. One day, if I'm still here to see it, he'll die. I don't want to be alone… since the moment I entered the 8th he's always been there. When I went to the academy, when Lisa-Senpai used to read to me… he was always there. I just can't imagine a life without Kyouraku-taichou. Not only that, but… he's ladies man. I can say he almost gives his love for sale. He might say it all the time, that I'm his 'Nanao-chan' and all that crap, but let's face it: we're not sure if he's ever going to leave me. I quite understand Soifon-Taichou's pain in there, but I don't want to live it on my own flesh, if you know what I mean…"

"Of course… but that's not it, what else is keeping you that uneasy?"

"Well… If I must admit, it's that I'm quite jealous of Hisagi." Nanao said scratching the back of her head.

"Of Hisagi… you don't mean you like Kira, do you?!" Iba asked,

"Not that you say a lot, but it's one of the few men that shares a few traits of my personality… sometimes we do paperwork together, and he tends to give my reports to Hisagi so I can keep up with what my Taichou refuses to do and stuff, but nothing more. I mean, at times we use to hang out, we go to Rukongai to drink some tea, and things like that… but, I don't know, seeing he's taken makes me feel a little jealous, I guess…"

"If you were a man, you'd be a ladies' man."

"Screw you!" Nanao squealed, re-opening the book. "Anyway, I'll continue from where I left, sorry for spacing out."

"Never mind… keep telling."

_Well, the two idiots were finally there, Hisagi looking more scared than I ever seen him tremble, and believe me, when you make that man watch horror movies alone at night is really fun to see him cry in fear. I'd have really loved to see what the two of them did to frighten him like that. Moreover, Kira just had a bored expression, almost looking pitifully at the other. Anyway, after my enormous amazement, the agreed to do the photo thing, and they made a really nice cosplay of this two guys on that manga Kuchiki-chan is all obsession and stuff… she really gave a good prompt, be it, the toothache case. Heh, you better not ask, Tetsu, it'll freak you out a little. Oh, well, and being them the winners of the pairing of the year, they gave their own prompt, which was a masquerade. I quite liked the idea, that's why I took several group pictures which gave a masquerade-like sensation… sorry I didn't call you for that, you were quite busy with paperwork. Either way, it came really Phantom of the Opera-like, and not only that, I have a really nice photo I asked Renji to take when they were coming back for this festival last week. Yeah, you went there too, when we went to the Shogatsu-matsuri on Rukongai. You should remember, Kira drank too much that night and well, Hisagi had to take him home… of course you were almost as drunk as Izuru, but you could still stand on your feet. Anyway, Renji offered to go with them if anything happened he could be of some help, and I asked him to take a photo of them, and he got me, this one._

Nanao pointed with her index finger at one really nice, smooth shoot; it was late night, the stars could be seen covering the whole sky, and they were passing by, exactly at that moment, beneath a tree. Hisagi was carrying the unconscious blonde on his back, while the other was hugging slightly his neck with a peaceful smile on the lips, cuddling his own head against Shuuhei's hair. The thing that gave the most touching detail was the fact both were wearing Yukatas, so it looked really natural. Iba smiled glancing at the photo, wondering why Renji didn't quit being a Shinigami and made a living out of being a photographer. He'd win much more money than he ever did.

"Is it just me or you're getting a soft side for gay people, Tetsu?"

"That's not it… it's just… their relationship was one of the few things we were able to make together without wanting to kill each other."

"You're saying it as if it were our baby." A large blush appeared on Iba's face, thing which made Nanao laugh out loud, as she herself was blushing as well. "Imagine what would the poor creature be!"

"Degenerated and sick as Hisagi and Kira, nothing less." The man chuckled, trying not to look at his friend's eyes. "So, the only thing left is the Fear Factor, am I wrong?"

"If you mean our top ten, you aren't." Nanao said, smiling widely. "I'm not sure if you should watch it. You're not even on the joke section, so…"

"I want to see what the hell did you do with this poor guys… there are no mini-skirts, right?"

"We're perverted, not sick, Iba."

As they had been listed days ago, the first one was Byakuya, the second was Toushiro, the Third one was Ukitake, the fourth Hisagi and fifth Kira. Afterwards came Ichigo, the guy from the 4th, Akon, Renji, and lastly Kyouraku, thing which made Iba laugh out loud as Nanao glanced away and blushed when he reached his page. The ten men were all dressed in black suits, but the white shirts they all had some were slightly open, and Iba had to admit they didn't look half bad. As the girl's top ten, they had one group picture as well, and it gave an odd feeling of a Victorian era, maybe it was because of the furniture or the room they were in, but the photo itself was very attractive.

"Turn the page, you're going to laugh with the next ones."

"The fake 11th and 12th place?"

"The real ones were Ikkaku and Yumichika… but these… well…"

A bit scared, he passed the page and watched with horror Omaeda invading the whole page, with lots of golden chains and jewelry around his wrists and neck. He looked fairly ridiculous, Iba couldn't help but laugh.

"If this one's bad, I can't imagine the other…"

"The next one is actually a bit silly… but oh, well…"

How or when it happened, Iba never knew. He supposed Renji was responsible, since it seemed it had been the same day he had taken Izuru and Shuuhei's photo on the festival. Yeah, it probably was, but he was so drunk at that time he probably didn't remember. The image consisted of him, sitting half conscious, with several girls hugging and posing seductively around him. Yeah, he must have been so drunk, because any men on his five senses would never forget about it. Iba blushed widely, avoiding to glance at Nanao's eyes.

"You're so funny when you're embarrassed." Nanao said, closing the booklets and picking them up from his desk. "I leave you your copies, tell me what you think of them so we can start producing them if you're ok with it." Nanao stood up from the windowsill and walked across the room; when she reached the door, she turned around and smiled peevishly. "There's a present for you I left on the windowsill. I hope you like it, Tetsu-chan"

Nanao left the room, and immediately as he heard she was far away from his office, he turned around to where she had been sitting the past few minutes. There was a small white plastic bag laying in there, so he walked towards it and picked it up. When he opened the bag, he found a book and a folded paper inside it. He took the paper first and opened his eyes widely while reading Nanao's neat calligraphy, with words he'd have never expected her to ever write:

_We, the Female Shinigami Association, recognize the existence of the Male Shinigami Association under the command of Iba Tetsuzaemon, lieutenant of the seventh division. We solemnly swear not to steal their funds, and we'll "gladly" donate one of our storage rooms for them to use it as they might please. Furthermore, we expect the MSA to acknowledge us as well, waiting for future cooperation._

_Yours truly, Ise Nanao, Vice-president of the Female Shinigami association (in name of our president who's busy enough biting Madarame Ikkaku's head for unknown purposes)._

Iba smiled widely at this, and afterwards he took the book out of the bag. The book title read "Interview with the Vampire". Just watching the title made the man shier a little, since Nanao knew and shared his tremendous hate for vampire novels. He opened the book on the first page, and he found there was more of Nanao's writing there.

_I know you hate vampire novels, but I promise you'll like this one. This vampires do not sparkle, and they ACTUALLY have fangs. Take this and the letter as your Christmas gift, as I didn't gave you any back then. _

_Nanao._

Sometimes what we need is not what we want. But sometimes, what we want is what we need, we just can't have it. Either way, he was patient. He didn't mind waiting for another eternity.

* * *

_**Notes: **_

**One more chapter to go!!! It's just an epilogue (Yoruichi's and Urahara's wedding, possibly), and I'm not sure when am I going to upload it **

**Respecting the last phrase "Sometimes what we need is not what we want. But sometimes, what we want is what we need, we just can't have it.", I know I might have made that part a bit confusing, but my way to explain it simply is, Nanao needs Iba but he doesn't want him, she wants Shunsui ^////^ As to Iba, he wants and needs her... he just can't be with her.**

**Kind reviews are always loved and welcomed!**


	17. If I Fell

**A/N:** Sorry for the terrible delay, I had a blockage and I didn't know how to continue this. I'm still not convinced, I might edit this someday... but I know myself and I know I'm waaaaay too lazy, so I probably won't XD Either way, this is the end of "Murder on the Dancefloor", If you've kept reading it, I hope you enjoy my sillyness 3

* * *

**Epilogue**

**If I fell

* * *

**

As unusual as it was, everything around them was white. Not black as the everyday routine, maybe that was their goal. But the walls, the flowers, the seats, their clothes, even their rings were purely white. Shinigami all dressed in white, making the black Shihakusho disappear just for one day, what an ironic event… two renegade Shinigami were the ones who made everyone dress white just for this event.

"Tell me something…" Ichigo asked, fixing his tux as he walked towards Shinji. "Why are you the best man? I thought it'd be Tessai, or even…"

"Don't say your dad, because I'm seriously going to beat you."

"Why not?"

"The last time your dad was someone's best man it was a disaster… I mean, even his own wedding was kinda… weird."

"And what about Tessai?"

"As Yamamoto refused to give the ceremony himself, Tessai obtained some strange clerical powers and now he's able to marry them… ah, the wonderfulness of the internet…"

"Oh, I see…" Ichigo stood right besides Shinji for a while as if expecting a longer answer. "Still, that doesn't answer my question… why you?"

"Well… sincerely, I don't know." Shinji admitted, scratching the back of his head. "But… maybe it was because I always give one hell of a bachelor party."

"For real?"

"Yeah… of course, kiddies are not allowed to come."

"I'm not a kiddy! This year I turn 18 already!"

"For now, Ichigo, you're still a kiddy."

Ichigo frowned ad seemed he was about to start pouting, but afterwards, Rukia came and he immediately stopped.

"Would you mind to stop? I've never see Urahara-san this tense, just look at him! He's basically trembling."

"Well, not all days you get married… and to Yoruichi-san, worse of all."

"Why is it bad, Kurosaki?" Soifon's voice asked, pested. "Yoruichi-sama is the greatest woman and…"

"Yeah, yeah, you love her, we know!"

"I do not!"

"Yeah, you do!" Shinji replied, lowering himself to meet face to face the petit Shinigami. "If not you'd have never agreed to be her maid of honor! I mean… if I were you, I'd have never agreed. She abandoned you without an explanation and now she's marrying her third seat which you LOATHED back then, remember? And to this days, I bet you still do, I mean, for you to ask Hacchi to lock him on a barrier for a month… either you're a psycho or you REALLY love that woman for accepting this place. Just admit it! Scream at the top of your lungs: "I LOVE YORUICHI-SAMA!" and everything will be better, Soifon-chan!"

"YOU WHAT, HIRAKO?" Urahara's voice screamed, making Shinji to jump on his feet as he wasn't expecting that the blonde Shinigami would react violently at his joke. "I MADE YOU MY BEST MAN AND YOU COME AND CLAIM YOU LOVE MY FIANCEE? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

"Hey, hey, man! Calm down! I didn't do it on purpose! Asides from that, it's not true! My heart belongs to one sole person, don't take it wrong, it's not your wifey! I didn't mean to get on your nerves, Kisuke!" Shinji overdramatized, and Ichigo rose an eyebrow, containing his laughter the moment the words "My heart belongs to one sole person" escaped from Shinji's lips. He was known for being a player… that still nobody liked. Either way, if those words were true, the poor chimp he had actually fallen in love was so damned. Ichigo smiled. He didn't know who would be more screwed, if Shinji, or the chimp child Shinji had fallen for.

"Oi! Oi!" Matsumoto's voice squeaked, dragging everyone around Kisuke away from him. "She's arriving, we're starting, people! Urahara-san, good luck!"

The blonde nodded nervously at Matsumoto as she disappeared with Ichigo, Shinji and Soifon within the crowd, and he overheard her voice once more as well as Nanao's telling everyone to take their seats. The blonde took a deep breath, as Shinji reappeared by his side and he watched Ichigo's fiery mane behind Hirako's shoulder. To his right, he managed to catch a glimpse of Soifon's pink gown as he turned around while the music started to play. He felt his stomach turn, but he held all his nervousness inside, and immediately as his eyes caught the sight of his favorite person, all his troubles seemed to fly away, defying gravity no matter how heavy they were. It didn't mattered how hard it was to get married, as long as she was there, holding his hand through the whole thing, it wouldn't even matter if Aizen stepped in with a horde of Menos just to ruin the whole thing… not as they were together as they'd always been.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was quick, simple, and beautiful. She came, all dressed in white, somehow her dress seemed to be kimono-alike on the neck, shoulders, and sleeves, but the bottom part, being the body and the tail of the dress were western-like. Her hair was cupped up in a large and complicated bun with golden ornaments that made her eyes shine even more, reassuring her cat-like features incredibly. He simply loved every inch of her at that moment, and he knew he'd like to spend the rest of eternity watching a new side of her every day…

Almost as it started, the ceremony was over. It just took a pair of "I do", a single kiss and a bunch of clapping, and all the guests were picking themselves up from their seats congratulating the couple.

"And you were nervous just some seconds ago, man! It was pretty easy, wasn't it?"

"Hirako, the day you get married, then we'll talk."

"Well… I'm sure I'll be pretty much confident on that day."

"Yeah, you wish…"

"Would you mind to stop? We better get going, out guests are getting impatient to party… again… and the women … and possibly Yumichika too… are going to kill me if I don't throw this thing soon."

"Heh, you're the one impatient to run away from here…"

"You better leave a good impression on our wedding night, Kisuke."

"You already know the result, don't you?"

"Yeah… but I expect you to surprise me, as always."

"The only thing you can expect, my dear…"

"… is the unexpected… I know."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The night was falling slowly on them, as They were at the reception before the two Shinigami left the shop to go on their little vacation, away from the chaos, away from the city, away from the Shinigami, away from everything. They would be finally free, even if just for some days, they'd be themselves once more… but first, there were some stuff to do. Kisuke gulped, taking one of her hands as the other slid slowly down onto her right hip, pulling his wife closer as she embraced herself tightly to his neck.

"Our first dance…" She muttered. "That's some kind of a lie, don't you think?"

"Dancing like monkeys on the stairs after getting out of the ceremony doesn't count." Urahara countered, following the rhythm while trying to hold the laughter. He just released a single and short chuckle, and the woman just smiled.

"Tell your best man… he started it all."

"Well, it's Shinji, what would you expect?" Urahara chuckled once more. "He does everything backwards."

"How ironic…"

"Yeah."

Suddenly, the sound of metal crashing slightly against crystal resounded around them. She smiled, glancing around her, watching everyone hitting their cups of wine with a little spoon. Somewhat she had the intuition, Soifon had started that.

"They want us to kiss." Yoruichi said, smiling widely.

"I hear that… what do you say? Shall we please our public?"

"Don't think about them… it's just you and me tonight… shall I please you?"

"Please do so."

She smiled and twirled both of her arms around his neck, resting her elbows on his shoulders, the dark skinned woman kissed him tenderly and passionately, evidently he returned the affection with the same energy, if not even more.

"I love you Kisuke."

"Moi aussi."

After that little chatter, they remained silent enjoying the music, until it faded and died, being the violins the last to play. She smiled widely and once more she kissed him, just a chaste kiss on her husband's lips. Right afterwards, she glanced at the little crowd remaining, shaking the flower bouquet she still had on her hands vigorously.

"Hey, ladies, who wants this baby?" She screamed, getting herself up on a chair ignoring Kisuke's helping hand, and with her free pal he rose her dress so she wouldn't get stuck and fall off her face.

"OH, SHE'S THROWING THE BOUQUET!" Matsumoto's scream could be heard from afar and several clacking heels.

Yoruichi smiled evilly, glaring at each and every woman standing around the chair… and Yumichika.

"HERE IT GOES!" The woman closed her eyes and threw the bouquet with delicacy, and immediately, there was a large roar and several screams, that continued for a long time. Yoruichi opened her eyes just in the moment to catch a glimpse of who had caught it, and amazingly it had been Soifon… but as they say, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected, because she seemingly freaked ou, and completely flustered, she threw the bouquet up in the air. She saw Matsumoto's hand fly quickly to catch it, but it was stopped by Nanao's elbow's, which at the same time was pushed because Yumichika had pulled from her dress so she'd not catch it, but Nemu had kicked the man so he'd retire from there, and still, it fell on Isane's hand, who flushed and started to tremble, but she felt her captain's heavy gaze so close to her she let it fall down, falling onto… Yachiru's hands.

"Ken-chan! I caught the bouquet! I did it! What do I get? What? What?"

Kenpachi sighed and took the bouquet from her hands, throwing it again.

"You'll know when you're older…" Kenpachi grunted, picking Yachiru from the floor.

The bouquet flew across the room and it passed over Rukia's head, who did not catch it. Renji laughed like a maniac.

"HAHAHAHA YOU'RE SO SMALL YOU DIDN'T CATCH IT!"

"Can someone tell me why are there flowers falling from the ceiling?" Byakuya's pested voice asked, and Renji turned around to see Byakuya walk with half of the poor bouquet on the hands.

"Congratulations, Renji, you're getting married!" The image was so sinister he almost fainted.

"CAPTAIN! I-I-it's an human tradition! Throw it!"

"No, Byakuya, why don't you keep it?"

"How many times do I have to tell you Kurosaki not to call me…"

"Shut up, Ichigo!"

"Hey, guys! What are you doing?" Orihime's cheerful voice reached their ears, who was dragging Ishida along, as he seemed didn't want to be there.

" Inoue, didn't you went for the bouquet?"

"Nah, I don't believe in those things… asides, I'm still young!"

"THEN TAKE THESE PLEASE!" Renji said, snatching away the flowers from Byakuya's hands, who looked confused, but not enough to care.

"W-what?" Orihime asked, taking the flowers and then glancing at Uryu, who just glared at Renji. He took the flowers from Orihime's hands and threw them away.

"Good luck, maybe in some years you might get married and have some Quincy boys!" the pineapple head answered quickly, avoiding eye contact with the one with the glasses.

Ishida didn't answer… he just flushed, and grabbed Orihime's hand to drag her away from them.

"Ishi… no, sorry, Uryu, what's…?"

He placed a fast kiss on her lips, and hugged her.

"We're still young… but I'll be nice to happen one day."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Meanwhile the other half of the bouquet kept flying across the dance floor, six people were sitting, four of them drinking.

"It amazes me you stopped, Matsumoto." Hitsugaya said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, there are two reasons, captain… one, I already got what I wanted and I don't think we'll ever be able to get married. Second, I don't feel quite right…" She said, placing her head on both hands.

"What happened?" Gin asked, concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"You should stop drinking, Rangiku-san…" Hinamori suggested, but Matsumoto shook her head.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"Obviously you're not." Shuuhei said, stirring himself to where she was, stealing her cup.

"We'll make you a favor and finish your drink, Matsumoto-san!" Kira said, taking the cup after Hisagi had drank from it.

"You guys are going to… Ah, I can't even fight against you…"

"You feel that bad?" Gin asked, rubbing her back as she rested her head on the table.

"Matsumoto-san…" Nemu's voice asked, making Matsumoto lean up and glance at her.

"What's up, Nemu?"

"I see your'e not feeling alright."

"You got it right…"

"By ay chance, some months ago you ate some of my cookies? On Christmas, possibly?"

"Eh.. youa, you gifted me that…"

"And afterwards the new year's party did you has any sexual intercourse?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS TH-?"

"It can't be…"Gin said, shaking his head firmly. "No, tell me it's a joke, Nemu-chan."

"I'm afraid it's not…"

"Then she's…?"

"I'M WHAT?"

"Remember Kurotsuchi-Taichou's advice after your little bet against Tetsu-san was settled?"

"Something about the cookies, if I recall… and not having sex and… a list of male candidates and…" Matsumoto soon seemed to tie de nods on the situation… "I'M PREGNANT?"

"It seems you are."

"B-b-b-but…?"

"Let me explain. The matter was I made two sets of cookies, ones for gifting and others for the experiment Mayuri-sama asked me to help him with. I presumed you would have no matter on getting your reproductive system completely restored, so I gave you from the experiment cookies. You ate some… you had sex within those ten days… and at least on a female body the hypothesis was right."

"Therefore… what was your father aiming for? Male Shinigami breeding or what?"

"Precisely."

"HE'S CRAZY!"

"Ichimaru points the obvious." Hitsugaya stated shaking his head.

Matsumoto looked towards Shuuhei and Izuru, and the blonde looked incredibly pale and scared for some reason.

"Either way…" Nemu continued "as I can see you two did the same, and the experiment on male bodies has to be refined."

"You really scared me… just imagine… you and I…"

"Would it be that wrong? I think we'd be great parents."

"Me too but…"

"Yeah, you're right, it's still scary."

"Hold on a second…" Shuuhei said, glancing at Matsumoto slowly who seemed to be having a panic attack.

"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Both Kira and Hisagi screamed at the same time, and right at the moment, the bouquet strangely flew towards Kira's open hands and he caught it.

"YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!" Both Hinamori and Matsumoto screamed at the same time.

Surely, the only thing you can expect, is the unexpected.


End file.
